Kingdom of Cambodia Agricultural services programme for … · Report No: 3647-KH Asia and the Pacific Division Programme Management Department Kingdom of Cambodia Agricultural services

Document Date: 12-Sep 2014

Project No. 1100001703

Report No: 3647-KH

Asia and the Pacific Division

Programme Management Department

Kingdom of Cambodia

Agricultural services programme for innovations,

resilience and extension

Final project design report

Main report and appendices

Kingdom of Cambodia

Final Project Design Rpt_Main_Sept14


i

Contents

Currency equivalents iii

Weights and measures iii

Abbreviations and acronyms iiv

Map of the programme area vii

Executive Summary viii

Logical Framework xiv

I. STRATEGIC CONTEXT AND RATIONALE 1

A. Country and rural development context 1

B. Rationale 5

II. Programme description 8

C. Programme area and target group 8

D. Programme Development Objective and Key Outcomes 10

E. Components 14

F. Lessons learned and adherence to IFAD policies 25

III. Programme implementation 26

A. Approach 26

B. Organizational framework 28

C. Planning, M&E, learning and knowledge management 31

D. Financial management and procurement 36

E. Supervision 40

F. Risk identification and mitigation 41

IV. Programme costs, financing, benefits and sustainability 42

A. Programme costs 42

B. Programme financing 43

C. Summary benefits and economic analysis 44

D. Sustainability 44

List of Figures

ASPIRE Accounts and Fund Flow 35

List of Tables

Table 1: Proposed Target Provinces 9

Table 2: Implementation Phases of ASPIRE and Key Intermediate Outcomes 12

Table 3: Components Programme Cost Summary 43

Table 4: Components Cost by Financiers (USD millions) 44

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Country and rural context background 1

Appendix 2: Poverty, targeting and gender 11

Appendix 3: Country performance and lessons learned 17

Appendix 4: Detailed Programme Description 21

Appendix 5: Institutional aspects and implementation arrangements 41

Appendix 6: Planning, M&E and learning and knowledge management 55

Appendix 6A: Communications Strategy 69

Appendix 7: Financial management and disbursement arrangements 75

Appendix 8: Procurement 89

Appendix 9: Programme cost and financing 93

Appendix 10: Economic and Financial Analysis 103

Appendix 11: Draft Programme Implementation Manual: Annotated Table of Contents 113

Appendix 12: Compliance with IFAD policies 117

Appendix 13: Contents of the Programme Life File 125

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Currency equivalents

Currency Unit =

US$1.0 =

Weights and measures

1 kilogram = 1000 g

1 000 kg = 2.204 lb.

1 kilometre (km) = 0.62 mile

1 metre = 1.09 yards

1 square metre = 10.76 square feet

1 acre = 0.405 hectare

1 hectare = 2.47 acres

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Abbreviations and acronyms

ACIAR Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research

ADB Asian Development Bank

AQIP Agricultural Quality Improvement Project

ASPIRE Agriculture Services Programme for Innovation, Resilience and Extension

AusAID Australian Agency for International Development (now Department of Foreign Affairs

and Trade)

C/S F Commune Sangkat Fund

CARDI Cambodia Agricultural Research and Development Institute

CAS Country Assistance Strategy

CAVAC Cambodia Agriculture Value Chain Program (Australian funding)

CBAPP Community-Based Agricultural Productivity Project

CBRDP Community Based Rural Development Project

CC (1) Commune Council

CC (2) Climate Change

CDB Commune Database

CDHS Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey

CDRI Cambodia Development Research Institute

CEW Commune Extension Worker

CIP Commune Investment Programme

CMDGs Cambodian Millennium Development Goals

COSOP Country Strategic Opportunities Programme

CSES Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey

D&D Decentralisation and De-concentration

DALRM Department of Agricultural Land Resource Management

DANIDA Danish International Development Agency

DAO District Agriculture Office

DfID Department for International Development (UK)

DRC Department of Rice Crop

DST District Support Team

ECCA Environment and Climate Change Assessment

ENRM Environment and Natural Resources Management

FBS Farm Business School

FMM Financial Management Manual

FSS Farmer Field School

FWUC Farmer Water User Community

GCCTS Group Conditional Capital Transfer Scheme

GDA General Directorate of Agriculture

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GESS Grants for Extension Services to Smallholders

GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (German International

Cooperation Agency)

GPS Global Positioning System

GRF Group Revolving Fund

HARVEST Helping Address Rural Vulnerabilities and Ecosystem Sustainability

HPI-1 Human Poverty Index

HRD Human Resource Development

ICPM Integrated Crop and Pest Management

ID Poor Identification of Poor Household Programme, Ministry of Planning

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IDA International Development Association

IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development

IFC International Finance Corporation

IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute

IGRF Improved Group Revolving Fund

IPA International Procurement Agency

IPM Integrated Pest Management

IRR Internal Rate of Return

JFPR Japanese Fund for Poverty Reduction

LST Labour Saving Technology

M&E Monitoring and Evaluation

MAFF Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

MDGs Millennium Development Goals

MEF Ministry of Economy and Finance

MFI Micro-finance Intermediary

MIS Management Information System

MOI Ministry of Interior

MOWA Ministry of Women’s Affairs

MOWRAM Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology

MRD Ministry of Rural Development

MVF Most Vulnerable Family

NAL National Agricultural Laboratory

NCDD National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development

NCDDS NCDD Secretariat

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

NIPMP National Integrated Pest Management Programme

NLU Nong Lam University (Ho Chi Minh City)

NPDD National Programme for Democratic Development

NPV Net Present Value

NSDP National Socio-economic Development Plan

O&M Operation and Maintenance

PASP Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan

PBCRG Performance Based Climate Resilience Grant

PDA Provincial Department of Agriculture

PDOWA Provincial Department for Women’s Affairs

PDRD Provincial Department for Rural Development

PIM Project Implementation Manual

PM Procurement Management

PPF Project Preparation Facility

PRWRAM Provincial Department for Water Resources and Meteorology

RAU Royal Agricultural University

RIF Rural Infrastructure Fund

RIMS Results and Impact Management System

RPRP Rural Poverty Reduction Project in Prey Veng and Svay Rieng

RULIP Rural Livelihoods Improvement Programme in Kratie, Preah Vihear and Ratanakiri

SA Social Assessment

SAW Strategy for Agriculture and Water

SNEC Supreme National Economic Council

SOP Standard Operating Procedures

SICRG Specific Investment Climate Resilience Grant

TA Technical Assistance

TOR Terms of Reference

TOT Training of Trainers

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TSSD Tonle Sap Poverty Reduction and Smallholder Development Project

UNCT United Nations Country Team

UNDAF United Nations Development Assistance Framework

US United States

USAID United States Agency for International Development

UXO Unexploded Ordinance

VAHW Village Animal Health Worker

VEW Village Extension Worker

WB World Bank

WFP World Food Programme

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Map of the programme area

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Executive Summary

Background and Rationale

Despite the rapid development of Cambodian economy and society in the past 15 years, the 1.

agriculture sector still represents more than one third of GDP and over half of employment. The

poverty headcount has fallen from over 50% to around 20%. Most of the poor live in rural areas

and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, while perhaps half the rural population

remaining vulnerable to falling into poverty due to shocks related to climate, market fluctuations

or household emergencies. Therefore the focus of the IFAD programme in Cambodia since

1998, of providing assistance to poor and vulnerable smallholder farmers, remains valid but the

context in which the assistance is provided has changed and will continue to change. Trade

liberalization and greatly improved transport and communications have linked Cambodian

farmers to regional product markets, while opportunities for non-farm employment, mainly

accessed by migration, have led to labour shortages and driven the adoption of less labour

intensive agriculture technologies. Gross yields of staple crops are no longer the key

determinants of food security or nutrition. Smallholder farmers need assistance to understand

and take advantage of their new opportunities. Global climate change is increasingly seen as a

factor in the frequent occurrence of damage to crops, property and infrastructure that reduce

production and introduce additional uncertainties into farmers’ investment decisions.

The transition of smallholders from a subsistence farming to business farming requires a major 2.

change in support services. Key to this is the generation and articulation of “informed demand”

for extension services which requires not only an increased willingness to listen to and respond

to the voice of farmers themselves, but a capacity to manage and facilitate complex flows of

knowledge and information between farmers, market actors, technical specialists and

researchers.

IFAD’s focus on supporting smallholder remains valid but must adapt to the changed context. 3.

The model based on asset transfers, mainly through group revolving funds, is less relevant due

to expanded availability of microcredit and cash incomes from employment and remittances.

The public extension service remains focused on teaching a limited set of production

technologies and lacks budget and human resources. There is a lack of coordination and

knowledge sharing vertically, for example between public research institutes and the extension

service, and horizontally, between public, private sector and civil society actors.

ASPIRE is designed on the assumption that the public sector, represented by MAFF and other 4.

State and local government agencies, will continue to have an important role in the extension

sub-sector, but that role must adapt to the changed context and to the increasing importance of

non-State extension providers. The concept of a Cambodian Model of Extension Services

envisages a policy, institutions, human resources and an implementation approach

emphasizing efficient sharing of knowledge, responsiveness to farmer demand, assisting

smallholders to access market opportunities and developing resilience to climate change at

farm and community levels. Public funding for extension should be targeted to achieve results

linked to public policy goals including support to farmer who are underserved by the market.

RGC policies including the Rectangular Strategy, the NSDP and the flagship Policy for Paddy 5.

Production and Rice Export emphasize the need for improved extension services, while the

policy context of ASPIRE also includes the Cambodia Climate Change Strategy and the

ongoing Public Financial Management and decentralization reforms. ASPIRE is designed to

assist RGC to develop policy and capacity to delivery improved extension services and to

coordinate the extension sector activities of development partners as well as the private sector

and civil society. This is conceived as the basis for an enhanced Cambodian Model of

Extension Services and a Programme-Based Approach in the extension sub-sector. This will be

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achieved through work at the policy and capacity development, innovative service delivery and

a rigorous approach to measurement and evaluation of results.

Programme1 Description

Results

ASPIRE contributes to the goal of the RB-COSOP which is Reduced Poverty and Increased 6.

Resilience of Poor and Vulnerable Smallholder Farmers in Cambodia. The Project

Development Objective is that “By 2021 an enhanced Cambodian model of agriculture services

is demonstrated as effective for assisting a diversity of smallholder farmers to contribute to

broad-based economic growth through profitable and resilient farm businesses and is adopted

as policy.” This will be achieved through three outcomes which are interdependent: (1) A

national investment programme that can be supported by multiple donors is designed to

implement an updated extension policy that provides smallholder farmers with access to quality

information services; (2) MAFF has institutional and human resources capacity to manage an

effective, demand driven system linking researchers and knowledge-based agencies to

extension agents in public sector, private sector and civil society and to farmers; and (3) At least

120,000 smallholders have improved and resilient farm businesses as a result of integrated,

demand led extension services and investments in climate resilient infrastructure.

Target Areas and Beneficiaries

ASPIRE is a national programme. RGC has selected five pilot provinces based on criteria 7.

including unrealised agriculture potential, capacity willingness and staff resources of the PDA to

implement Provincial Sub-Programmes, previous IFAD experience and a large number of

farmers in the target group. Subject to satisfactory progress, ASPIRE will expand into the five

PADEE target provinces when that project ends in 2018, plus three additional Provinces to be

identified by Mid-Term Review. Target Districts and Communes for the extension activities, and

target Districts for the Climate Resilience Grants will be identified through Provincial level

planning2.

The target beneficiaries of ASPIRE are defined as productive poor and vulnerable smallholders. 8.

Farmers in this group produce for the market as well as for own consumption and can invest

small amounts in improving production. The comparative advantage of IFAD lies in assisting

this group rather than the chronically poor with no productive resources and the land poor who

cannot produce for the market, on the one hand, or better off farmers, on the other. Extension

activities will be designed to meet the needs of the target group and beneficiary households will

be chosen largely by self-selection: i.e. the prime criterion for participation in a farmer field

school will be the desire to learn.

Components

Component 1: Evidence Based Policy Development will support the definition and adoption 9.

in policy of the Cambodia Model for Extension Services and resource mobilisation for a

programme based implementation approach. The component will demonstrate an improved

and inclusive policy process. Policy will be developed through structured “policy rounds” with

outputs, time-frame and responsibilities defined by the ASPIRE Steering Committee. The policy

process will consist of three stages: i) Orientation; ii) Formulation and Approval; and

iii) Mainstreaming and Learning. It is anticipated that there will be three to five policy rounds,

each of 12 to 18 months duration.

1 ASPIRE is designed to prepare for a Programme Based Approach to support to the extension sub-sector but is

already “programmatic” in its emphasis on integrating policy, capacity and delivery of services, in its alignment with

RGC policy and systems and in its open approach to partnership. Hence the term “programme” is adopted in

preference to “project.” 2 The selected pilot provinces are Battambang, Kampong Chhnang, Kratie, Preah Vihear and Pursat. The five PADEE

provinces are Kampong, Kandal, Prey Veng, Svay Rieng and Takeo.

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A framework for mobilisation of resources to support extension in a Programme Based 10.

Approach will be a key output of the policy process. During the final phase roll-out of the

Cambodian Model of Extension Services to the five PADEE provinces will be financed by IFAD

while ASPIRE will assist RGC to mobilise resources from additional donors, initially to roll out

the model to a further three provinces. The roll-out and engagement of additional donors will

achieve the conditions for a full Programme Based Approach.

Component 1 has two sub-components, associated with the ASPIRE Secretariat and the 11.

Supreme National Economic Council (SNEC) respectively. Sub-Component 1.1: Policy

Coordination and Development includes coordination, policy drafting and resource

mobilisation activities. In Sub-Component 1.2: Policy Research and Analysis, SNEC will

build on its role of high-level policy advice to the leadership of RGC by establishing an Analytic

Unit for the Agriculture Sector, conducting or commissioning policy studies and trials including

Randomized Controlled Trials in collaboration with IFPRI, and formulating evidence-based

policy recommendations.

Component 2: Capacity Development for Extension Services will be implemented through 12.

two sub-components focused on institutional development and strategic human resources

respectively. Sub-Component.

Sub-Component 2.1: Improving Extension Quality and Knowledge Management will assist 13.

MAFF to improve the definition of roles and responsibilities of different agencies in extension

and to establish an Extension and Research Advisory Board overseeing an Extension Hub

within the General Directorate of Agriculture. The functions of the Extension Hub will include

(1) Integration of existing extension materials and web content; (2) development of new

extension materials and training content; (3) development of a system of extension demand

assessment and extension service planning; (4) establishment of the Extension Portal,

(5) outreach activities and (6) development and implementation of quality assurance systems.

Sub-Component 2.2: Strengthening Human Resources for Extension will support a Human 14.

Resources Development Strategy, strengthen the skills of current extension staff in key

strategic areas including leadership and adult learning methods, and support academic

education in extension for full-time students and for serving field personnel including Commune

Extension Workers. In service education will be delivered through a combination of residential

courses and e-learning.

Sub-Component 3: Improved Extension services will pilot Provincial sub-programmes within 15.

the MAFF Programme Budget framework, finance grants for piloting and testing innovative

approaches to extension and support a mass media extension campaign.

Sub-Component 3.1: Provincial Sub-Programmes will be implemented within the 16.

Programme Budget structure of MAFF. An improved Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan will be

prepared through inclusive dialogue and supported by evidence on farmer needs and priorities,

market opportunities and technical constraints. Through the Programme Budget, PDA will

allocate grant funds to extension services with a mix of comparative models including public

sector service delivery, a farmer-to-farmer extension model supported by the Commune

Extension Workers, public-private partnerships and contracting out. Where appropriate, existing

farmer organisations and cooperatives may be the basis for Smallholder Learning Groups and

will play a major role in the famer-to-farmer learning networks. More advanced cooperatives

may act as service providers under contracting out or PPP modalities. PDA will be accountable

to maximise results achieved through efficiently allocating the grant funds to these models.

Sub-Component 3.2: Innovations for Climate Resilient Agriculture will support 17.

demonstration and testing of promising innovations under smallholder farm conditions. Suitable

technologies may include, but will not necessarily be limited to, improved on-farm water

management, adjustments to the cropping calendar particularly including introduction of early

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wet season rice or other crops, introduction of climate resilient varieties, introduction of new

crops with a potential to improve climate resilience.

Sub-Component 3.3: Mass Media Campaign will include climate change awareness and will 18.

promote climate smart agriculture. Activities will include: (i) radio broadcasts (ii) an educational

television show with an entertaining, competition-based format and (iii) a mobile feedback show

engaging farmers in discussion about the programmes. The farmer to farmer learning activities

will build upon and enhance the effectiveness of the mass media campaign through ensuring

further dissemination, discussion and understanding of mass media messages at the local

level. All broadcast materials will also be available via the extension portal.

Sub-Component 4: Infrastructure Supporting Climate Resilient Agriculture is designed to 19.

address a key constraint to the effectiveness of extension support to smallholders in areas of

high climate risk. The component scales up a model successfully piloted by NCDD-S in which

Districts develop Climate Resilience Strategies and allocate the proceeds of Performance

Based Climate Resilience Grants. Eligible expenditures will be the additional costs of climate

proofing productive infrastructure or constructing climate adaptive infrastructure. Investments

will be identified by the Commune Councils from their development plans and the non-climate

related costs will be financed by the Commune-Sangkat Fund. Districts meeting performance

targets will receive three annual PBCR Grants in increasing amounts and will become eligible

for one Special Project Climate Resilience Grant to finance a larger investment.

ASPIRE supports the Cambodia Climate Change Strategic Plan and incorporates features to 20.

mainstream climate resilience concerns in education and training materials (Component 2); use

of climate risk indicators to allocate resources and measure performance, and use of

vulnerability reduction analysis in planning (Component 3.1); testing of climate resilient

agriculture solutions (Component 3.2); financing climate resilient infrastructure (Component 4);

and partnership arrangements with GEF-funded projects (UNDP Resilient Livelihoods and a

future IFAD biogas project).

Implementation Approach

The implementation approach of ASPIRE reflects its ownership by RGC and its purpose to 21.

support reform within the extension sub-sector. ASPIRE implementation will be aligned with

national systems and is designed to facilitate partnership and harmonisation with a wide range

of development partners and stakeholders. Implementation arrangements emphasise creating

accountability for results in line with the Paris Declaration, the Accra Agenda and the Busan

declaration of 2011.

MAFF will be the Executing Agency under the overall coordination of MEF representing the 22.

Borrower. ASPIRE will be overseen by a Steering Committee (SC) co-chaired at Secretary of

State level by MEF and MAFF, and with representation from CARD, SNEC, NCDDS and

Ministry of Environment (MoE), participating provinces, development partners, civil society

(farmer organisation) and the private sector.

As requested by RGC, ASPIRE will align with the Programme Budget of MAFF. This alignment 23.

will be managed by an ASPIRE Secretariat reporting to the Programme Director and will be

accomplished through a phased approach. In the Foundation phase, the ASPIRE results

framework will be cross-referenced to relevant outputs and activities of the Programme Budget

and pilot Provincial Sub-Programmes will be established. In the Proving phase, the MAFF

Strategic Budget Plan will become progressively more results-orientated and ASPIRE will

support selected sub-programmes of the Programme Budget. In the Scale-Up Phase and

subject to satisfactory progress it is envisaged that ASPIRE support will become fully aligned

with the Strategic Budget Plan. The ASPIRE Secretariat could eventually be absorbed into the

Department of Planning and Statistics and the Department of Finance that jointly manage the

Programme Budget.

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ASPIRE support will bring an increasing focus on results into the Programme Budget 24.

arrangements. ASPIRE will be designed to better define, measure and reward good

performance at institutional and individual levels. Tools for this purpose will include performance

based grants and allocations and potentially may include individual performance related

incentives.

Through the Programme Budget (but without co-mingling of funds) ASPIRE will finance 25.

activities of MAFF technical agencies including but not necessarily limited to the General

Directorate of Agriculture, the Department of Animal Health and Production and the Provincial

Departments of Agriculture. PDA will be accountable for the Provincial sub-programmes and will

allocate funds to activities of the District Agriculture Offices as well as to support public-private

partnerships, contracted out extension services and farmer-to-farmer learning activities.

Not all ASPIRE activities will be implemented through the Programme Budget framework. Non-26.

Programme budget activities will include Component 1.2, implemented by SNEC, and

Component 4, implemented by NCDDS. There may also be non-Programme Budget activities

within MAFF where these activities are essential to ASPIRE but do not match activities in the

Strategic Budget Plan.

Local Administrations at Provincial, District and Commune levels assist in planning and 27.

coordination of ASPIRE. The Commune Councils will directly contract the Commune Extension

Workers with funding support from the Provincial Sub-Programmes. The District Administrations

and Commune Councils will jointly implement the climate resilient infrastructure activities,

financed by grants from NCDD-S.

Monitoring, evaluation and knowledge management will be integrated into all aspects of 28.

ASPIRE. Key M&E tools will include (1) an integrated MIS; (2) a Major Impact Survey at

baseline, mid-term and end of project; (3) annual Results Verification Surveys making use of

use telephone surveys of farmers tracked by the MIS; (4) an independent evaluation of

progress in policy development; (5) an extension practitioner survey, Qualitative Analysis (case

studies and Most Significant Change stories) and (7) participatory evaluations of the

infrastructure investments.

ASPIRE will result in improved knowledge in the areas of (1) The efficacy and cost-29.

effectiveness of different approaches to extension, subject to different contexts; (i.e. what

works, where); (2) Smallholder farmers’ needs for extension services, and how smallholders

can be assisted to identify and take advantage of emerging market opportunities; (3) the

capacities and appropriate roles of the public sector, private sector and civil society in

agriculture services in a Cambodian context; and (4) the effectiveness and applicability of

selected innovations in climate resilient agriculture.

Costs, Financing and Benefits

Total estimated project costs are USD 82.2 million over seven years and include 30.

USD 4.1 million of contingencies. Direct costs will be financed by an IFAD loan of

USD 26.1 million, a grant (financed through IFAD by ASAP) of USD 15.0 million, Government

contribution of about USD 11.4 million, a grant from i3E to IFPRI of USD 0.9 million, activities

financed by USAID of USD 0.33 million and a further USD 12.4 million to be mobilised from

additional partners. Contributions in kind of USD 5.8 million from project beneficiaries,

USD 7.2 million from sub-national administrations and USD 3 million from private partners are

assumed in the total figure. The government will co-finance all categories of expenditure

including 28% of salaries and allowances, 10% of equipment and materials, 27% of training,

18% of Grants for Extension Services to Smallholders, 17% of Grants for Climate Resilient

Productive Infrastructure and 100% of salaries of Government staff seconded to the

programme. The financial and economic analysis suggest satisfactory returns from project

investments and sufficient incentives for participation of project beneficiaries. The overall

economic rate of return is estimated at 15%.

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Sustainability and Risk Mitigation

ASPIRE is designed for sustainability at multiple levels. At the policy level, sustainability will be 31.

achieved not only by embedding the Cambodia Model of Extension Services in formal policy

but also by engaging stakeholders within and outside government as owners and partners in

the model. Sustainable capacity development will be achieved by working through the

permanent institutions and budget execution procedures of MAFF and by strengthening

strategic human resources. The sustainability of improvements to smallholder farm businesses

will be improved by a focus on resilience including to climate shocks. The sustainability of

infrastructure investments will be improved by providing incentives for good maintenance

performance and by introducing public-private partnerships where appropriate.

The key implementation risks to full achievement of the project objectives are outlined below 32.

with proposed mitigation measures:

(a) Policy objectives do not engage sufficient attention and support from the leadership level

in RGC. IFAD will engage with senior RGC leaders during the project preparation and

implementation readiness period, possibly including support to policy dialogue as part of

a preparedness package. A major advantage of the involvement of SNEC is the agency’s

role and track record of policy advice to the highest levels of RGC;

(b) Management failures leading to excessive delays in implementation. To ensure a timely

and efficient start-up of ASPIRE, IFAD is in discussion with RGC on options to finance

start-up technical assistance with specialist programme management expertise in the

programme preparedness phase and during the first year of implementation.

(c) Reforms could be frustrated by obstruction from lower levels in the institutions

concerned. ASPIRE will seek to identify potential problems through open dialogue with

stakeholders and the commitment and management authority of the leadership will be

key to overcoming resistance. The issue of staff performance incentives is closely

related.

(d) Rent-seeking in the procurement process for decentralised services will be minimised by

strict application of RGC procurement procedures. Service providers for contracted-out

extension may be subject to a pre-qualified list linked to the quality assurance system.

(e) Effective staff resources, particularly at District level, will prove insufficient to fulfil the

service delivery targets. ASPIRE will require MAFF and its PDA directors to assign

adequate staff to DAO before beginning service delivery in a district. Phasing in at

approximately 3 Districts per Province in each of the first two years is intended to allow

sufficient time for this.

(f) Without the material incentives provided by previous IFAD projects, farmers will be

reluctant to commit time to training and resources to adoption of new technologies. The

Smallholder Learning Group approach with emphasis on self-selection of participants,

shorter training modules, improved learning methods and demand-led selection of

training topics, is intended to overcome this difficulty. Where appropriate, SLG may be

used as the basis for cooperative negotiation of terms with input sellers or credit

providers.

(g) M&E and results monitoring arrangements fail to provide the quality of evidence that is

needed to substantiate policy conclusions. ASPIRE will benefit from the improved

approach to M&E already implemented in PADEE, including a professionally conducted

major impact survey and the establishment of an MIS. ASPIRE will use a multi-layered

approach to monitoring with the potential for cross-checking of findings, for example

between RCTs, the impact survey, farmer tracking and mobile feedback “shows.”

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Logical Framework Narrative Summary Key Performance Indicators Means of

Verification

Assumptions (A) / Risks (R)

Goal:

Reduced Poverty and Increased Resilience of Poor

and Vulnerable Smallholder Farmers in Cambodia

Average household agricultural production value of 120,000 targeted households increased by 15%3

Value of household assets of increased by 25% (including for climate-vulnerable households)4

Impact survey (Baseline, Mid-Term, final)

Programme Development Objective:

By 2021 an enhanced Cambodian model of

agriculture services is demonstrated as effective for

assisting a diversity of smallholder farmers to

contribute to broad-based economic growth through

profitable and resilient farm businesses and is

adopted as policy

An evidence based Cambodian Model of Agriculture Extension Services is defined in policy and services are fully financed by Programme Budget by 2021

Policy and budget documents

A: Improved knowledge and support

services cost-effectively benefit poor and

vulnerable smallholders

Outcome 1: A national investment programme that

can be supported by multiple donors is designed to

implement an updated extension policy that

provides smallholder farmers with access to quality

information services

RGC commits to extend Provincial Sub-Programmes to all agriculture provinces

At least 2 significant development partners in addition to IFAD commit in principle to future financing of CMAE through Programme Based Approach

Documents

A: Continuity of RGC policy facilitates

development of programme-based

approach

R: Insufficient engagement / commitment of

leadership

Outputs:

1.1 By 2016, an extension policy framework is

approved that identifies a clear role for MAFF and

key partners, provides strategic guidance to MAFF

programmes and activities and targets public

support at those most in need and who can benefit

from advice

Policy Framework approved by Steering Committee following validation by stakeholders at annual Extension Policy Forum

Policy documents

A: MAFF willing to commit to policy

development process with external

participation

A: Studies, results measurement and impact

assessments provide clear evidence for

policy direction

1.2 An Analytic Unit for the Agriculture Sector is

established in SNEC

Unit formally established within government structure and staff recruited against PDs

Programme progress reporting

1.3 By 2018, a set of extension policies has been

formulated based on evidence, validated in

discussion with stakeholders and adopted

Set of policies approved by competent authority that are based on evidence including studies, results monitoring and randomized controlled trials

Record of policy approvals

3 Targets are relative to a control group and to be achieved by end of programme unless otherwise stated

4 Households assets taken as a proxy for resilience

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Narrative Summary Key Performance Indicators Means of

Verification


1.4 By 2018, an effective Framework for Resource

Allocation and investment prioritisation

A medium term investment and resource allocation framework adopted Programme progress reporting

A: DPs willing to support demonstrated

successful model 1.5 By 2021, adequate financial resources are

mobilized to implement the Cambodia Model for

Agriculture Extension

At least 10 Provinces have adequate resourcing through the Programme Budget to implement CMAE objectives.

Budget documents

Outcome 2: MAFF has institutional and human

resources capacity to manage an effective, demand

driven system linking researchers and knowledge-

based agencies to extension agents in public sector,

private sector and civil society and to farmers

At least 6 MAFF department-level technical agencies have strategic plans and fully financed sub-programme activities that respond to Farmer Needs Assessment

At least 1,000 field level extension agents applying enhanced skills and improved methods as a result of ASPIRE support

HR Strategy baseline and follow up study

Capacity framework - baseline and progress assessment

A: Improved capacity can be sustained by

improved budgeting procedures and

resources

R: Reforms are frustrated by resistance

from staff

Outputs:

2.1 The Extension Hub is established to support the

extension sub-sector with sustainable financing and

improves access to extension materials and

technical support for field extension agents in public

sector, private sector and civil society (SC 2.1)

# of extension materials accessible through the Extension Portal

# Extension agents (by public sector, private sector, civil society) who access Extension Portal to support their work

Extension Portal recording

A: Weak knowledge management and

sharing are key constraints to extension

service

A: New tools can cost-effectively improve

understanding of farmer needs

A: Private / civil sector extension agencies

willing to participate in QA

A: MAFF has management strength to

facilitate and if necessary, enforce

compliance with guidelines

Stakeholders value ASPIRE and willing to

contribute to success

A: Lack of human resources is a key constraint to extension service delivery R: management failures lead to delays in

implementation

2.2 The Farmer Needs Assessment system

established within the Extension Hub supports

improved planning of extension programmes (SC

2.1)

Needs assessment system (tool and defined actions/protocol) available than can be used in planning of services/products

Programme Progress reporting

2.3 Improved extension techniques are developed

and master trainers trained (SC 2.1) # Master Trainers trained on improved techniques MIS

2.4 Quality assurance of extension materials and

extension service providers operating under the

Extension Hub (SC 2.1)

# of extension materials and service providers certified (by product category) Extension Portal recording

2.5 Clearly defined roles and responsibilities that

support the extension service and MAFF institutions

to work together (SC 2.1)

% of extension staff whose performance is managed based on approved job descriptions (Ext. Hub, PDA and DAO ext staff)

MIS

2.6 The human resources needed to operate the

extension service are strengthened in accordance

with a human resources development strategy that

identifies number of trained extension workers

needed, key skills and education and training

provisions (SC 2.2)

# of people with improved skills (by course/research type and gender) to deliver

quality extension services in line with agreed HRDS MIS

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xvi

Narrative Summary Key Performance Indicators Means of

Verification


Outcome 3: At least 120,0005 smallholders have

improved and resilient farm businesses as a result

of integrated, demand led extension services and

investments in climate resilient infrastructure.

At least 90,000 smallholder farm businesses with increased profits through applying techniques learned through participation in ASPIRE extension activities

At least 70,000 climate vulnerable smallholders using infrastructure financed by PBCR/SPC to support their farming

Farmer tracking / MIS and Impact Survey

NCDD-S PID database

A: Results measurement demonstrates

benefits of ASPIRE approach

Outputs:

3.1 Public resources allocated in response to farmer

needs need and market opportunities (SC 3.1)

At least 10 PDA demonstrating progress in PSP planning and results through Provincial Scorecard

Provincial Scorecard/MIS

A: Existing planning systems are not

adequately responsive to farmer needs or

market opportunities

R: inadequate staff resources, particularly at

District level.

A: Smallholders willing to invest in improved

farm businesses

R: Change from previous IFAD approach of

providing material assistance leads to

farmer reluctance to participate

A: Suitable techniques and market

opportunities exist

A: Knowledge already available at local

level is not shared efficiently

A: Untested innovations have potential to

improve extension service

A: Investments in climate resilient public

infrastructure provides sustainable benefits

to farm businesses

3.2 Smallholders trained in improved climate-smart

agriculture techniques learned through an efficient

mix of delivery models (SC 3.1)

At least 120,000 smallholders participating in extension activities promoting and climate resilient agriculture techniques (by ID Poor 1,2, gender of HH) to be detailed by provider (DAO, private, PPP)

Famer tracking/MIS

3.3 Smallholder farmers gain improved access to

information through farmer-to-farmer learning

supported by mass medial extension campaigns.

(SC 3.3)

# of smallholders accessing information on improved and climate resilient agriculture techniques (by ID Poor 1,2, gender of HH) through media campaign

Audience survey

3.4 Improved knowledge of the effectiveness of

innovative extension methods developed (SC 3.2) # Innovation pilots reporting results (positive or negative) that improve

knowledge for extension policy and planning Programme

reporting/MIS

3.5 Profitability and resilience of smallholder farm

businesses enhanced by access to climate-resilient

productive infrastructure (SC4)

24 Districts with high climate risk supporting climate resilient infrastructure through grant funding in line with District level CR Strategy

MIS - NCDDS and programme reporting

5 This result will be achieved through the combined effects of Component 3 and Component 4. The outreach target for Component 3 is 144,000 households and the outreach target for

Component 4 is 70,000 households, of whom it is expected that about half will be Component 3 participants. Therefore the combined outreach target is around 179,000 households and the

Outcome 3 target is that 120,000 of these households demonstrate improved and resilient farm businesses

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I. STRATEGIC CONTEXT AND RATIONALE

A. Country and rural development context

The Kingdom of Cambodia has a land area of 181,035 km2 and is bordered by Thailand to the 1.

northwest, Laos to the north and by Vietnam to the east and south, with a short coastline on the

Gulf of Thailand to the west. The 2008 Census put the total population at 13.4 million with an

annual rate of increase of around 1.6%: projection based on this growth rate implies a

population of around 14.7 million in 2014. The overall population density is around 80 persons

per square kilometre, although densities are generally higher in the low-lying, agricultural areas

in the south of the country and in the Tonle Sap basin, and much lower in the forested and

upland areas of the north and northwest. About 80% of Cambodians live in areas officially

classified as “rural” by the National Institute of Statistics.

Cambodia was afflicted by almost continuous war and civil conflict from 1970 until the early 2.

1990s, including the traumatic experience of the Democratic Kampuchea (“Khmer Rouge”)

regime from 1975 to 1979. The peace agreement of 1991 and the UN-organised election of

1993 led to re-establishment of a constitutional monarchy with multi-party democratic

institutions of governance. Full peace was established by 1998 and Cambodia has maintained

general political stability since. The results of the national elections in 2013 were disputed and

the opposition party has maintained a boycott of the National Assembly, however a new

Government has been formed based on the election results and Government institutions are

functioning more or as normal.

Since the 1990s Cambodia has re-integrated itself into the regional and global economies and 3.

made important progress in reconstruction and development. Cambodia adopted economic

policies based on free markets in 1989 and since then has followed a broadly consistent path of

reducing State involvement in the economy and, particularly since 1993, favouring

macroeconomic stability and openness to international trade. Annual GDP growth averaged

about 10% between 1999 and 2008. Growth fell to zero in 2009 in the aftermath of the food,

fuel and financial crisis and has since recovered to about 7% per year. Population growth in this

period was less than 2% per year, implying substantial increases in GDP per capita. Growth

has been driven mainly by the garment, tourism and construction sectors which have also been

the most significant sources of non-farm employment.

High growth has been accompanied by poverty reduction. According to the data of Cambodia 4.

Socio-Economic Survey (CSES), the poverty rate in 2011 is estimated at 20.5% compared to

53% in 20046. The share of households below the food poverty line has decreased from 16% to

3.8% during the same period. With the majority of population being rural (about 80%), this

substantial decline of overall poverty is a reflection of drastic reduction of rural poverty: poverty

incidence in rural areas declined from 59% in 2004 to 24% in 2011 and food poverty was

reduced from 18% to 4.4% in the same period. The rural poverty rate estimated from the CSES

data more or less corresponds with the IDPoor poverty survey headcount , according to which

about 27.1% of rural population were poor in the 2010-2011 period.

Despite the encouraging trend in poverty reduction, about 2.8 million people are still poor, 90% 5.

of whom (about 2.5 million) live in rural areas, although there are pockets of severe poverty in

some urban areas, particularly in Phnom Penh.

Poor households have fewer adult earners and higher proportions of dependants, limited 6.

income sources, and smaller agricultural landholdings. The poor have limited access to formal

credit. Due to underdeveloped extension services in the country, the poor’s access to

technologies and market information is limited except where external supports are provided.

6 The main source for poverty statistics in this and the following paragraphs is Where Have All the Poor Gone: World

Bank Poverty Estimate 2013

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2

While income from non-farm self-employment and wages is becoming increasingly important in

the rural areas, poor households still rely on a largest share (around 44%) of their household

income from agriculture. Non-farm self-employment provides only around 5% of income. The

pattern of higher shares of agriculture income in lower income quintiles has remained

consistent over 2004-20127.

The same study found that female-headed households in rural areas had lower income per 7.

capita than male-headed ones. The income of female-headed households fluctuates more

sharply, indicating a higher degree of vulnerability for female-headed households. The share of

salaries and wages in female-headed households' income is higher than those of other

sources, including agriculture, but the types of jobs that poor women are employed are

generally low paying. According to the 2008 census data, about 26% of Cambodian

households are women headed and nearly 12% of women are widowed, divorced or separated;

these figures are much higher than the corresponding proportions among men. Although girls’

primary school enrolment rates are now similar to that of boys, adult women have lower

education levels than men. Domestic violence is a serious problem especially amongst the

poorest households.

Low agricultural productivity and the impact of floods and droughts, exacerbate poverty. The 8.

Cambodian rural economy is dominated by raw agricultural production and has not diversified

in ways that could significantly provide jobs for poor rural residents: constraints to economic

diversification include relatively poor infrastructure, an under-developed electricity grid and high

energy costs, lack of finance for investments and high costs of doing business. In such

conditions, the ability of smallholder farmers to take risks and innovate is severely constrained.

Development in other sectors of the economy and in neighbouring countries has provided

alternative employment opportunities. Many Cambodians and especially the rural poor migrate

to find work, either seasonally or by permanent re-location to urban Phnom Penh or to the

upland and forest provinces with greater land availability. Migration brings its own problems

including social disruption and the vulnerability of migrant workers to abuse.

A high proportion of the poorest families in any village are typically landless, women-headed 9.

households with a high number of dependent children and lacking adult labour-power.

Cambodian women enjoy equal economic rights with men in law but in practice they face

additional challenges and may find it more difficult than men to escape from poverty.

Cambodian women take a large degree of responsibility for managing household affairs and

often engage in small business activities but they are under-represented in elected offices and

positions of public authority and find it difficult to make their voices heard. Rural women have to

combine agricultural work with domestic responsibilities. Women may find it difficult to exercise

effective ownership of land and other assets, which may lead to divorced or widowed women

becoming landless.

Although overall population growth has slowed, the labour force is growing much faster – the 10.

median age is about 21 and young people who were born during the baby boom years of the

1980s and 1990s are now searching for employment opportunities.

Agriculture and Natural Resources Sector

Despite growth in other sectors, agriculture still represents the largest source of employment in 11.

Cambodia and the recent economic crisis has highlighted the importance of the sector as a

source of growth. While growth in other sectors has absorbed a significant amount of rural

labour over the last ten years, agriculture still employs around 60% of the labour force (when

including forestry and fisheries activities). The share in rural areas is even higher at 70% (2007

CSES data). In addition, agriculture currently makes up about 34% of total GDP (compared to

slightly more than half of the country’s GDP in 1990). The sector expanded at an annual rate of

4.4% over the 1998 to 2008 period, driven by increases in productivity and in cropped area: this

7 Tong Kimsun et al, Levels and Sources of Household Income in Rural Cambodia 2012, CDRI, August 2013.

Kingdom of Cambodia



3

is a high growth rate when compared to other East Asian and Pacific countries. Most

importantly, the sector continued expanding during the crisis with agricultural GDP registering

an estimated 5.4% growth in 2009 and 4.0% in 2010. Key drivers of agricultural growth include

large natural potential, foreign investments, public expenditures in infrastructure, credit and last

but not least global and regional markets boosted by the food price spike after 2008.

The total area of cropland in Cambodia is about 25,000 square kilometres, or 14% of the total 12.

land area. About 60% of the land area is classified as forest. Rice is by far the dominant crop,

accounting for about 80% of the cropped area. Wet rice cultivation is concentrated in the low-

lying provinces of the southern part of the country and the Tonle Sap basin, while the higher

areas in the northeast and southwest are dominated by forest, plantation and upland crops.

Livestock production, while important, is mainly by smallholders as an additional activity to rice

growing. Rice production has grown faster than the overall agricultural economy, so that

Cambodia has become self-sufficient in rice and exports significant quantities of paddy, mainly

through informal channels to Vietnam, as well as smaller amounts of milled rice. Other cash

crops such as cassava are also exported to Vietnam without processing.

Timber production and freshwater fisheries are major commercial activities in Cambodia. 13.

Although the forestry sector has been subject to a moratorium on logging for most purposes

since 2002, in practice a considerable amount of production continues. Traditionally rural

Cambodians harvest a wide range of natural products for processing, sale or domestic use.

Although many of these products are of declining importance, most Cambodian rural

households continue to rely on firewood for cooking fuel and catches of wild fish and small

aquatic creatures make an important contribution to their diet.

The land ownership system in rice-farming areas of Cambodia results from the distribution of 14.

collectivised land to households in the late 1980s and developments since that time. Population

growth has increased pressure on land while sales forced by poverty, debt or domestic

emergencies, and in some cases expropriation of land, have resulted in smaller average plot

sizes and increased inequality in land distribution. A 2005 survey found that 80% of holdings

were less than 2 hectares; however holdings over 2 hectares accounted for 50% of all land.

About 37% were less than 0.5 hectares and thus probably too small to provide for household

consumption. Land ownership is governed by the Land Law of 2001 and despite a significant

land titling effort most agricultural land is still not covered by formal land titles. Land holdings

under informal titles are fairly secure in traditional rice growing areas, but land ownership

disputes have become common in former forest land and also in high-value urban areas. Large

areas of the forest estate have been awarded to commercial interests as economic land

concessions (ELC), often with accompanying criticism from civil society organizations (mainly

on account of lack of transparency, failure to respect the rights of existing land users, weak

control over the uses made of concession land and low productivity). The Government has also

introduced a social land concession (SLC) program aimed at distributing vacant land to the

rural poor, although so far this is on a much smaller scale than the ELC. In 2012 and 2013 the

Government made a concerted effort to resolve outstanding land ownership disputes,

particularly in forest and ELC areas, through a campaign of land surveying by student

volunteers under the personal direction of the Prime Minister. It is said that 660,000 plots were

surveyed 380,000 new titles issued under this scheme, however the long term effectiveness of

the programme in ending land disputes is uncertain.

Cambodia’s total water resources are very large, consisting of average annual rainfall of 15.

1000mm to 1500mm in most areas and cross-border flows of river and groundwater. However

effective water availability for agriculture is highly seasonal and often unpredictable. About 90%

of all rain falls between May and October. Cambodia’s irrigation infrastructure is largely a

legacy of schemes constructed by mass mobilisation of labour in the late 1970s: these

schemes were characterised by unrealistic ambitions and by very poor standards of design and

construction. Most investment in irrigation since 1980 has gone into rehabilitating and improving

Kingdom of Cambodia



4

the more promising parts of these “Khmer Rouge” systems: this is often the easiest course as it

avoids land acquisition issues, although better technical solutions might be available. In 2006,

only about 17% of the rice crop was fully irrigated, with the remainder being fully or partially

dependent on rainfall. In most areas only one crop is grown per year, either a rain-fed wet

season crop or in areas subject to annual inundation, a recession crop, with some

supplementary irrigation used for both types. In recent years the Government has invested

heavily in irrigation improvements, with most expenditure on headworks and main canals and

rather less emphasis on distribution systems and maintenance.

Cambodia is vulnerable to climate variability and change, and has experienced an increasing 16.

number of natural disasters over the last several decades. Over the period 1980 – 2010 over

16 million people have been affected by floods and drought with estimated economic damages

of US$538 million. Current climate variability as experienced by local communities include late

onset of monsoon rains, mid-monsoonal drought accompanied with temperature spikes, and

late season floods followed by a cold spell. Climate change predictions indicate an increase in

temperature between 0.7-2.7°C by 2060 and increase in average annual rainfall by about 30%.

Paradoxically, useful water availability may be reduced as rainfall is expected to come in fewer

incidences of high intensity rain leading to large scale runoff, and with a shorter rainy season

and a longer dry season. Climatic variations are expected to increase the severity and

frequency of flood and drought events. Changes in flows and seasonality could also have

adverse impacts on sensitive and economically productive wetlands such as Tonle Sap. The

impacts on agriculture and fisheries are likely to be dramatic. Finally, it is expected that climate

change will increase the incidence of infectious, water-borne and vector-borne diseases, heat

stress and mortality, with significant impact on public health costs.

Despite the progress made in recent years there is scope for further gains in rice productivity, in 17.

crop diversification and improved livestock production. Constraints faced by Cambodian

farmers include poor soil quality, small and fragmented plots, lack of water, lack of access to

quality inputs including improved seeds, lack of access to finance (particularly for poorer

households), inefficient production techniques and high post-harvest losses. Poor road

infrastructure is also a constraint (although the rural road network has improved greatly in

recent years it is still far below the standard found in neighbouring countries) as are high energy

costs and lack of access to electricity. Frequent crop losses due to extreme climate events

reduce productivity and discourage investment.

Policies and Development Plans

The overall objectives of the Royal Government of Cambodia are expressed in the 18.

“Rectangular Strategy for Growth, Employment, Equity and Efficiency” first adopted in 2005 and

updated in 2013. The Rectangular Strategy is based on development in four key areas:

agriculture, infrastructure, the private sector and capacity building and human resources

development, while good governance is placed at the core of the strategy.

The National Strategic Development Plan elaborates the principles of the Rectangular Strategy. 19.

The NSDP was adopted in 2006 and a newly adopted version covers the mandate of the

current Government (2014-18). The NSDP commits Cambodia to achievement of its Millennium

Development Goals and sets ambitious targets for expansion of agricultural production and

exports, including achieving average rice yields of 3.25 tonnes per hectare by 2018 and

increasing surplus paddy production to 6 million tonnes per year, and raising average value

added per hectare (all crops) from US$997/ha in 2007 to US$1,450/ha by 2018.

The Policy on Rice Production and Export policy recognizes the strategic importance of rice 20.

production to Cambodia’s economy and lists a number of policy measures and related

investment priorities, and identifies responsible institutions for implementation, to promote rice

production and exports. It identifies the potential of milled rice to improve the balance of

Cambodia’s exports, which are heavily dependent on the garment industry at present. The

policy promotes a value chain approach combining increases in productivity with investments in

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5

processing and exploitation of niche markets, for example for organic rice. The policy targets

exports of 1 million tonnes of milled rice by 2015.

Cambodia has engaged in progressive piloting and implementation of decentralisation reforms 21.

since 1996, with a key achievement being the establishment of directly elected Commune

Councils as the lowest tier of government in 2002. The Strategic Framework for

Decentralisation and Deconcentration Reforms (2005) established a vision for integrated

administrations at Provincial and District Level. An Organic Law (2008) established the basis for

indirect elections of Provincial and District Councils which took place in 2009. The Government

is implementing a 10-year National Program for Sub-National Democratic Development (NP-

SNDD) under the leadership of NCDD, with the second three-year implementation phase

expected to begin in 2015. The draft NSDP 2014-2018 establishes transfer of functions,

strengthened own-source revenue collection, decentralising staff management and improving

vertical and horizontal accountabilities as priorities.

The Cambodia Climate Change Strategic Plan (CCCSP) outlines the government’s vision for 22.

promoting climate-resilient development and green growth in the period 2014-23. During its first

phase the strategy will focus on adaptation activities aimed at strengthening community

resilience. All climate-related issues, including a climate change financing framework, will be

gradually integrated into development strategy and planning at all levels – national and sub-

national – as a matter of priority.

Cambodia has a system of bottom-up, participatory planning based on the five-year Commune 23.

Development Plans and annual Commune Investment Programs. Priorities identified in local

planning are adopted into sector and agency programs through annual District Integration

Workshops. NCDD approved new guidelines for District and Provincial planning in 2011.

B. Rationale

The design of the ASPIRE programme is based on the analysis of strategic opportunities for 24.

poverty reduction, inclusive growth and enhanced climate resilience underlying the RB-COSOP

2013-18. Agriculture will remain a key contributor to Cambodian growth and employment for the

foreseeable future. About 20% of the rural population are poor but a much larger proportion –

perhaps as much as 50% - is vulnerable to falling into poverty due to climate or other shocks.

The agriculture sector as a whole, and the smallholder agriculture sector which is the basis of

the livelihoods of the overwhelming majority of poor and vulnerable Cambodians – has potential

for inclusive growth based on more effective use of available technology and on improved

market linkages. In particular, there is a large sub-group of poor and near-poor but productive

smallholders who can raise their incomes and increase their resilience through market-linked,

climate smart improvements in agriculture production. Studies for preparation of the RB-

COSOP found that the product markets to which smallholders have access are competitive and

internationally linked, implying that smallholders have the opportunity to gain from improved

productivity, technical efficiency gains and production decisions8.

Lack of access to up-to-date, relevant information on farming technologies, markets and climate 25.

risks, together with the lack of the skills needed to use information effectively, are key

constraints to the improvement of smallholder farm businesses. This is a particular problem for

the productive poor and near-poor. Larger and better resourced farmers have better access to

knowledge and are more likely to benefit from links to private sector input suppliers and

produce buyers. For the poorest members of the community, agriculture production is tailored

to own consumption and to minimising risks, while the key constraints are lack of land or labour

power, which IFAD does not have the ability to address directly. However, increased

smallholder incomes and reduced climate-related losses will strengthen the rural economy,

8 RB-COSOP 2013-18 Design Report Appendix VI: Agriculture and Rural Development – Linking Farmers to Markets in

Cambodia

Kingdom of Cambodia



6

generate employment and reduce competition for existing off-farm jobs, thus benefitting all

groups.

Climate vulnerability is a major concern with implications for existing smallholder incomes, the 26.

willingness and ability of farmers to invest and the sustainability of gains due to improved

agriculture practice. The diversity of topography favours some areas while increasing the

vulnerability of others. This highlights to the need for a more differentiated agricultural extension

service that capitalises on the production potential of the favoured areas and mitigates the

vulnerability of livelihoods in the risk prone areas. The most vulnerable farmers may need major

changes to traditional cropping patterns or to diversify away from rice to achieve resilience.

Climate resilient production technology will not be sufficient without complementary investment

in climate-resilient and climate-adaptive productive infrastructure.

Information is a public good and is inherently likely to be under-supplied (compared with the 27.

economically efficient level) by private markets. Poorer smallholders are most likely to be

under-supplied with information. Farmers do not trust the advice they receive from input

suppliers and extension messages disseminated by the private sector may not always support

public policy goals. Therefore, in an under-developed agriculture economy, the public sector

retains a key role in financing, facilitating, and appropriately regulating the agriculture extension

sub-sector, but this role should complement and reinforce, not inhibit, investments in extension

by the private sector and civil society.

The traditional role of the public sector in extension in Cambodia has been that of direct service 28.

delivery, with civil servants training farmers in production techniques. There has been relatively

little synergy between public and non-government extension services, while the approach to

extension within the public sector has been supply-driven and focussed on maximising

production of basic foodstuffs to ensure food security, with inadequate attention paid to the

profitability or resilience of farm enterprises or to emerging market opportunities. The RGC

recognises this problem and the need to move extension from a “system” to a “service”

approach. The NSDP emphasises increased productivity, diversification and commercialisation

and the need for “strengthening and expanding sustained extension services and market

information; extending the outreach of the supporting services structure to local levels and

linking them to the concerned networks and other stakeholders; promoting R&D for productivity

improvement and adaptation to climate change.”

In the more complex rural economy that is emerging, extension services must respond to 29.

informed demand of farmers. This requires a “service provider” attitude including willingness to

listen to the “client” (i.e. the farmer) and to provide what the farmer needs. However, “informed

demand” is in part a product of the extension services themselves. Therefore a modern

extension service must be based on capacity to manage and learn from multiple flows of

information, integrating the voice of the farmers together with those of market actors, technical

experts and research findings.

The behaviour change that is implied in this approach must be embedded in policy and 30.

supported by technical capacity, including the ability to incorporate ICT into all aspects of

extension work, enhanced human and a diverse, innovative approach to service delivery.

Change is a gradual process and sustainable improvements in public sector capacity will

require long-term commitment and increasing alignment of external development partner

resources with the government’s planning and budget execution systems. This points to a

programme-based approach to the extension sub-sector but the analysis of the RB-COSOP

was that the required conditions are not fully in place. Therefore ASPIRE is explicitly designed

to prepare the way for a programme-based approach integrating government and development

partner support in the extension sub-sector. And to pilot the approach

The Goal of ASPIRE is the Goal of the RB-COSOP: reduced poverty and increased resilience 31.

of poor and vulnerable smallholder farmers in Cambodia. The Programme Development

Kingdom of Cambodia



7

Objective that contributes to the Goal is: By 2021 an enhanced Cambodian model of

agriculture services is demonstrated as effective for assisting a diversity of smallholder farmers

to contribute to broad-based economic growth through profitable and resilient farm businesses

and is adopted as policy. In achieving this, ASPIRE will directly assist at least

100,000 smallholders to escape poverty and increase resilience. The complementary

investments in climate resilient infrastructure are seen as essential to create the conditions in

which the ASPIRE approach can be effective for the most climate-vulnerable farmers.

As well as supporting the Rectangular Strategy and NSDP targets for strengthening agriculture 32.

through improved extension services, ASPIRE actively promotes RGC policy goals in the areas

of governance and climate change adaptation. Good governance features of ASPIRE will

include promoting the use of results-based programme budgeting within MAFF, improving the

performance of civil servants through piloting better human resources management procedures

in line with RGC policy, and an emphasis on decentralised planning, service delivery and

accountability for results. ASPIRE will mainstream climate smart agriculture in line with the

MAFF climate change adaptation strategy and finance investments to strengthen community

resilience in line with the CCCSP.

ASPIRE does not represent a break but rather a development from previous and ongoing IFAD 33.

projects, absorbing lessons learned, sustaining capacity developed and moving from a project-

focused to a programme based approach. In the early stages of implementation ASPIRE will

benefit from resources created by the PADEE project, especially regarding improved extension

materials, developments in linking extension agents to information technology, engagement

with stakeholder networks created and strengthened by PADEE and adoption / adaption of the

PADEE MIS. The pilot provinces of the ASPIRE approach of Provincial Sub-Programmes for

extension will include provinces where the RULIP project has strengthened capacity, while the

model will be introduced into additional provinces concurrently with the phasing out of PADEE.

ASPIRE moves on from previous country programme practice in one important respect in that it 34.

does not include a component of finance for agriculture inputs. Although the poor have less

access and pay higher interest rates than better off farmers, the range of credit options open to

them has increased and includes tailored MFI products such as mutual guarantee group loans

(avoiding need for collateral), increasingly formalised credit from input suppliers and a

significant presence of savings groups and credit cooperatives as well as the traditional

informal money market. Furthermore, the interest rate gap between the best of these products

(generally 2.5% - 3%) and the rates applied to IFAD supported revolving fund groups (RFG)

(minimum 2%) is becoming small. The extension-only approach of ASPIRE is compatible with

the core mandate of PDA and with a flexible, decentralised, multi-modality approach to

extension delivery and will also have the effect of enhancing the importance of training quality

in the eyes of both client and service provider.

The ASPIRE approach allows the PDA to provide flexible and appropriate support to farmer 35.

organisations and cooperatives in line with MAFF policy priorities9. Farmer organisations and

cooperatives may form the basis for Smallholder Learning Groups and will have a key role in

the Farmer to Farmer learning strategy. Existing organisations and cooperatives with higher

capacity may become a channel for service delivery through either contracting out or Public-

Private Partnership arrangements.

ASPIRE is designed and implemented in a framework of cooperation and partnership. To a 36.

large extent this is possible because of the investments in partnership building and

collaborative strategy development during the formulation of the RB-COSOP. Partnership

arrangements that are under discussion or confirmed at the design stage include cooperation

with USAID on technical assistance for policy development (Component 1) and for human

resources capacity development (Component 2) as well as possible sharing of methods and

9 As expressed in the Law on Agriculture Cooperatives 2013

Kingdom of Cambodia



8

resources for M&E; policy-focussed research of IFPRI (also Component 1) and cooperation

with the GEF funded UNDP Resilient Livelihoods project (Components 2 and 4). Through the

involvement of NCDD-S ASPIRE will cooperate with the multi-donor National Programme for

Sub-National Democratic Development. Other possibilities for beneficial mutual cooperation

include the EU livestock and fisheries programme in MAFF and the Australian-funded ACIAR

for technology research and innovative approaches to extension (Components 2 and 3).

Development partners including FAO, World Bank and ADB have engaged in extensive

discussions contributing to ASPIRE design and formal partnerships may emerge during

implementation. In the final phase of the programme ASPIRE will assist RGC to mobilise

external resources for a programme-based approach to the extension sub-sector.

The ASPIRE approach to climate resilient infrastructure provision is based on a model 37.

developed by NCDDS with support from UNCDF, the Cambodia Climate Change Alliance and

SIDA. Other development partners are also interested in scaling up this approach and there is

good potential for cooperation in this area.

IFAD is uniquely well placed to lead development partner support to programmatic 38.

strengthening of the extension sub-sector. This is because of IFAD’s importance within the

agriculture sector and because of IFAD’s commitment to working with Government and through

Government systems. ASPIRE benefits from the experience gained and approaches developed

and adapted in IFAD projects supporting extension activities over 15 years. These projects

have also resulted in a high degree of mutual confidence with MAFF and also with MEF which

has indicated that it sees IFAD as a partner of choice in supporting reform within the agriculture

sector. IFAD’s partnership network includes other development partners in the sector but also

farmer organisations, private sector agencies and sub-national administrations and technical

agencies. The quality of experience and network relationships developed through earlier

investments will prove invaluable in meeting the challenges posed by the ambitious, reform-

orientated agenda of ASPIRE.

II. Programme description

C. Programme area and target group

ASPIRE is designed as a national programme and the policy and capacity development 39.

components will have a national scope. The Provincial Sub-Programmes and Climate Resilient

Infrastructure activities will be piloted in five provinces initially, with an expansion to at least five

and (contingent on mobilising additional funds) up to eight provinces from 2018.

In principle the ASPIRE approach should be effective in any agricultural Province of Cambodia. 40.

However, Provinces with a high suitability to be selected for piloting will have the following

characteristics: (i) high level of unrealised agricultural potential; (ii) good capacity of the PDA

and willingness to operate under the Programme Budget arrangements (iii) PDA staff resources

are not committed to implementation of existing major externally funded projects; (iv) Provinces

where previous experience with IFAD projects has built experience in providing demand-driven

agricultural services to poor smallholders, as well as institutional and human resources. The

pilot Provinces should have a large aggregate number of productive poor and vulnerable

smallholders. Taking these criteria into account, RGC has agreed to pilot ASPIRE in five

provinces: Battambang, Kampong Chhnang, Kratie, Preah Vihear and Pursat. Subject to

satisfactory progress in developing the programme-based approach, ASPIRE will expand into

Kampot, Kandal, Prey Veng, Svay Rieng and Takeo with the phasing out of the PADEE project

in those Provinces in 2018, plus three additional provinces to be identified by Mid-Term Review

and contingent upon mobilisation of additional funds.

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Table 1: Proposed Target Provinces

Province Previous IFAD

Project

Districts1 Communes

1 Households

1,2

Kratie RULIP 2007-13 5 41 68,099

Preah Vihear RULIP 2007-13 7 49 44,620

Battambang ADESS 1998 -

2003

13 92 208,163

Pursat ADESS 1998 -

2003

5 42 84,543

Kampong Chhnang None 7 65 105,439

TOTAL FOR PILOT PROVINCES 37 224 405,525

Kampot PADEE 2012-18 7 88 132,008

Kandal PADEE 2012-18 10 121 228,969

Prey Veng PADEE 2012-18 12 113 255,355

Svay Rieng PADEE 2012-18 6 68 115,274

Takeo PADEE 2012-18 9 97 195,269

TOTAL FOR 103 IDENTIFIED PROVINCES 81 711 1,332,300

1. Rural Districts Only 2. Commune Database 2012 3. Three additional provinces to be identified later and subject to availability of funds.

In targeting geographical areas and individual farmers, ASPIRE will place emphasis on 41.

maximising the cost-effectiveness of funds used. This implies consideration of unrealised

potential – investment in extension may be wasted in a district with no potential for agriculture,

or in a highly productive district where few further gains are available. At the individual level,

ASPIRE will seek to maximise the poverty reduction impact by targeting smallholder farmers

who are either poor or near-poor and vulnerable to falling into poverty due to climate, market or

other shocks but who have productive potential and can take advantage of market

opportunities. By the end of the project, at least 120,00010

households in this category should

have demonstrated improvements in profitability and resilience of their farm businesses with the

assistance of ASPIRE. These farmers will not (as in the past) be identified primarily though a

wealth ranking process but by self-selection of farmers into programmes designed for the target

group. Where it is necessary to ration access to the ASPIRE farmer groups, willing farmers who

are classed as poor (ID-Poor 1 or 2) will have priority. The experience of iDE in extension

programmes based largely on self-selection by interested farmers is that ID-Poor farmers

comprise about 50% of participants. Participation of the poor and women will be monitored in

the programme M&E system. However, the participation of less poor smallholders in the

programme will be important from the viewpoint of technology transfer as these farmers, as

demonstrated by PADEE, are well situated to effectively try and demonstrate new technologies.

The mixture of extension models and flexibility provided by the Provincial Sub-Programme 42.

approach allows the needs of specific types of farmer to be addressed by appropriate

interventions. The Contracting Out extension approach may be particularly suited to assist

farmers with special needs. For example, a customised package of support could be provided

to farm households living in Commune Social Land Concessions within the selected provinces

subject to the considerations in the following paragraph.

Beneficiaries on Newly Acquired Land. IFAD recognizes and appreciates the efforts of the 43.

Royal Government of Cambodia to benefit poor and landless farmers through allocation of

Social Land Concessions and also through formal land titling under the programme initiated by

the Prime Minister. Secure access to land is a key factor in enabling smallholders to develop

10

Achievement of this target is contingent upon mobilisation of additional resources for expansion into 13 Provinces in

total by 2018. The target for the five pilot provinces plus the five identified expansion provinces, fully financed by IFAD

loan and grant proceeds and RGC contributions, is 100,000 farmers.

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profitable and resilient farm businesses. IFAD also recognizes the potential sensitivities around

land ownership issues in Cambodia and particularly concerning land that has recently changed

ownership or use

ASPIRE will not provide direct support to allocation of land or issue of land titles. Under 44.

ASPIRE, PDA will be encouraged to allocate resources to support smallholders who have

recently received new land and who have a genuine intention to develop the land for farming.

However, such support will be subject to verification that there are no competing ownership

claims to the land. Land allocated under the Commune Social Land Concession schemes and

supported by World Bank – LASED Project will be automatically deemed to meet this criterion.

If major support is planned in other areas of recently transferred land, including National Social

Land Concession areas, ASPIRE will commission an independent audit of the land transfer

process to verify the absence of competing claims.

ASPIRE's support to national extension programme will present a unique opportunity to 45.

mainstream gender in overall extension services of the country. Gender delineated needs

analysis will inform selection of technology suitable to both men and women farmers; learning

modalities and communication channels. Under capacity building and training activities

(Component 2), women will be encouraged to participate in all ASPIRE supported trainings

(MAFF staff, RUA and other agricultural schools, and other agencies). An indicative percentage

(25%) is set for female participants in the trainings. In Component 3, is envisaged that at least

50% of participants in Smallholder Learning Groups (SLGs) will be women.

A gender action plan for ASPIRE will be developed which will identify roles and responsibilities 46.

and detail monitoring and analysis to support ongoing review. The gender strategy goes beyond

participation of women in learning groups and extends to tailoring extension packages and

services to addressing gender needs; including representation of women and men on

committees; in institutional capacity building and the HR Development Strategy for extension

services; and project staffing including CEWs.

The Impact survey and reports will provide delineated information on female headed 47.

households and regular performance monitoring will detail gender participation, access and

satisfaction and feedback. Where performance is below expectations reasons will be explored

and program design modified where appropriate.

D. Programme Development Objective and Key Outcomes

The Programme Development Objective (PDO) of ASPIRE is: By 2021 an enhanced 48.

Cambodian model of agriculture services is demonstrated as effective for assisting a diversity

of smallholder farmers to achieve profitable and resilient farm businesses and is adopted as

policy.

The PDO will be considered as substantially achieved if by the end of the programme (2021) 49.

three Outcomes are verified:

Outcome 1. A national investment programme that can be supported by multiple donors is

designed to implement an updated extension policy that provides smallholder

farmers with access to quality information services;

Outcome 2. MAFF has institutional and human resources capacity to manage an effective,

demand driven system linking researchers and knowledge-based agencies to

extension agents in public sector, private sector and civil society and to farmers;

and

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Outcome 3. At least 120,000 smallholders have improved and resilient farm businesses as a

result of integrated, demand led extension services and investments in climate

resilient infrastructure11

.

These three outcomes will be achieved through activities organised in policy development, 50.

capacity development and two service delivery components. The results are inter-linked and

mutually reinforcing: each outcome depends on results across all components.

ASPIRE is a change process. There will be three implementation phases representing 51.

increasingly close and mutual alignment between ASPIRE and the MAFF Strategic Budget

Plan. The timing of transition between phases will be determined by the ASPIRE Steering

Committee based on achievement of key intermediate outcomes.

During the first (Foundation) phase, pilot Provincial Sub-Programmes will be established within 52.

the MAFF Programme Budget. Other ASPIRE AWPB activities will be cross-referenced to the

MAFF Strategic Budget Plan.

In the second (Proving) phase activity planning will be integrated with the Programme Budget 53.

planning cycle. PDA will gain greater discretion to allocate resources in the optimal manner to

maximise target results.

In the third (Scale Up) phase the Cambodia Model of Extension Services will be rolled out 54.

through establishment of Provincial Sub-Programmes in additional Provinces, including an

additional five Provinces financed from the IFAD loan and grant proceeds. Additional domestic

and external (development partner) resources will mobilized with the initial aim of expanding to

a further three Provinces (bringing the total ASPIRE Provinces to thirteen). The implementation

modality for Phase 3 will be confirmed at the Mid-Term Review but it is anticipated that the

ASPIRE results framework will be fully integrated with a more results-orientated MAFF

Strategic Budget Plan. The Scale Up phase of ASPIRE plus successful implementation of a

multi-partner resource mobilisation framework will meet the conditions for a full Programme

Based Approach.

The key intermediate outcomes that will define the completion of each phase are shown 55.

together with the implementing arrangements for each phase in Table 2.

11

It is expected that about 25% of the extension beneficiaries will also benefit from infrastructure investments.

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Table 2: Implementation Phases of ASPIRE and Key Intermediate Outcomes

GOAL Reduced Poverty and Increased Resilience of Poor and Vulnerable Smallholder Farmers in Cambodia

PDO By 2021 an enhanced Cambodian model of agriculture services has been demonstrated as effective for assisting a diversity of smallholder farmers to contribute to

broad-based economic growth through profitable and resilient farm businesses and is adopted as policy

Phase Policy Outcomes Capacity Development Outcomes Farm Businesses Outcomes Implementation Arrangements

OUTCOMES A national investment programme that

can be supported by multiple donors is

designed to implement an updated

extension policy that provides

smallholder farmers with access to

quality information services.

MAFF has institutional and human

resources capacity to manage an

effective, demand driven system linking

researchers and knowledge-based

agencies to extension agents in public

sector, private sector and civil society

and to farmers

At least 120,000 smallholders have improved

and resilient farm businesses as a result of

integrated, demand led extension services

and investments in climate resilient

infrastructure.

Progressive alignment of ASPIRE with MAFF Programme Budget arrangements.

PHASE 1:

Foundation

2015-16

Evidence-based Multistakeholder Policy Process agreed and implemented

Demand-driven Extension Policy Framework developed and validated with stakeholders

Analytical Unit for Agriculture established and functioning in SNEC

First round of Policy Process launched

Extension and Research Advisory Board established and functioning

Extension Hub functions established

Extension Portal designed

Human Resources Development Strategy for the extension sector

Academic curricula developed

Quality Assurance system designed

Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan in 5 provinces reflected in Provincial Sub-Programmes (PSP)

Participatory research activities in climate resilient agriculture initiated

Mass media campaign initiated

16 Districts prepare District Climate Resilience Strategies (34 by Phase 2)

First 8 Districts achieve minimum conditions to receive Performance Based Climate Resilience Grants (34 by Phase 2)

ASPIRE Secretariat established under MAFF Secretary of State

Provincial Sub-Programmes established in 5 pilot provinces

PHASE 2

Proving

2017-18

A set of extension policies developed with stakeholder participation and adopted.

Institutional roles and responsibilities clearly defined

A medium term investment and resource allocation framework for extension is integrated in the MAFF Strategic Plan

Second round policy agenda approved and process is launched

Quality Assurance for extension materials and services functioning

PDA/DAO staff working to performance management job descriptions

Field agents accessing Extension Portal to support their work.

At least 50 CEW enrolled in in-service education leading to a recognised extension qualification.

At least 4 Provinces demonstrate progress through increased scores measured by Balanced Scorecards

Evidence of smallholders adopting techniques learned through training and mass media

Innovations in climate resilient agriculture demonstrated and evaluated

At least 50 Communes implement climate resilient infrastructure sub-projects

ASPIRE Secretariat supports results-based programme budgeting across Programmes 1,2, &3

ASPIRE funds selected sub-programmes

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At least 24 Districts achieve performance criteria for annual PBCRG increase

PHASE 3

Scale-Up

2019-21

Mobilization of adequate financial resources to implement the Cambodia Model for Agriculture Extension

Evaluation studies on extension models available and discussed in fourth policy round

Decision on final incentive framework for extension

Extension Hub functions fully financed by Programme Budget

Increased availability of personnel with skills to deliver modern, demand led extension service

PSP operating in at least 13 Provinces

144,000 farmers participate in extension activities of whom at least 85,000 demonstrate increased profits

34 Districts qualify for Specific Investment Climate Resilience Grants

70,000 smallholder farm businesses benefitting from access to climate resilient infrastructure (50% are additional to extension beneficiaries)

ASPIRE and additional resources used to provide support at Programme level

Provincial sub-programmes rolled out to additional Provinces

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E. Components

The outputs and activities of ASPIRE are organised in four components: Knowledge Based 56.

Policy, Capacity Development for Extension Services, Improved Extension Services and

Climate Resilient Productive Infrastructure. These components are mutually inter-dependent:

outputs in one component may be contingent on achievement of outputs in another, and the

outcomes will be achieved through the combined effect of all components. Effective

management of knowledge, communications and monitoring and evaluation will be essential to

the success of this approach and will be coordinated by the ASPIRE Secretariat. The ASPIRE

communications strategy (further discussed in Section G below) is integrated into all

components and will be supported by adequate specialist technical assistance, located in the

Secretariat.

Component 1: Knowledge Based Policy

The Outcome of Component 1 will be a national programme implementing an updated 57.

extension policy and supported by multiple donors that provides smallholder farmers with

access to quality information services. It is expected that the policy and programme will provide

an incentive framework for synergies between actors engaged in delivery and use of extension

services.

The extension policy and policy instruments to be developed under Component 1 will be 58.

formulated within a framework of key principles for farmer-led extension integrating the roles of

the public sector, private sector and civil society. The policies will aim to provide clear guidance

on critical issues determining which model of extension delivery works best in different contexts

and for different categories of farmers. Based on policy, a medium-term framework for resource

allocation and investment prioritisation will cut across the boundaries of agro-ecological areas,

themes or value chains and service delivery models.

The component will achieve this through an inclusive, evidence based policy development 59.

process. This process will be directed by the ASPIRE Steering Committee with technical

support from Supreme National Economic Council (SNEC). In accordance with the agreed

policy agenda, a round of the policy dialogue will be organized for each policy deliverable. Each

round will have a start and end date with key milestones and time line publicized in advance to

the most directly concerned stakeholders. It will be an important role for the Steering

Committee to ensure that the sponsors of various policy initiatives related to extension are

encouraged to engage through this inclusive and collaborative policy process.

The policy process will consist of three stages: i) Orientation; ii) Formulation and Approval; and 60.

iii) Mainstreaming and Learning. It is anticipated that there will be three to five policy rounds,

each of 12 to 18 months duration.

In the Orientation stage policy issues will be identified by different groups who may include the 61.

technical divisions of MAFF, the Extension and Research Advisory Board (ERAB), MEF, SNEC

or other stakeholders. Based on proposals received, the ASPIRE Steering Committee will

develop the policy agenda including the key issues for research and policy formulation,

responsibilities, specific deliverables and a time-bound work plan. The steps of the Orientation

stage will be as follows:

i. Steering Committee approves the policy agenda for the coming year and budget for

policy development activities within the AWPB;

ii. Expert researchers conduct studies and gather evidence which is summarised in one or

more background papers or position papers. Where appropriate, more than one

institution may prepare a position paper for consideration. Where needed, policy

research will be referenced and benchmarked against international standards and

guidelines provided by Cambodia membership of WTO and ASEAN. ASPIRE will provide

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funding opportunities for exchange visits to countries in the region to discuss and

observe policies and their implementation.

iii. SNEC facilitates a Policy Seminar to review the background paper and position papers.

Participants in the seminar will represent key stakeholders including policy makers,

development partners and representatives of farmer organisations, the private sector and

civil society.

iv. Based on agreements at the Policy Seminar, SNEC will prepare a consolidated Seminar

report and policy brief including recommendations for the key direction and content of

policy.

The steps of Policy Formulation and Approval will be as follows: 62.

i. SNEC provides technical assistance to the key concerned technical division of MAFF to

develop the formal policy document or regulatory instrument. The ERAB is used as a

discussion forum for technical feedback on the policy during development. The policy

document must include key indicators to be used in monitoring of implementation.

ii. The policy document is circulated to stakeholders in advance of the annual Policy Forum

on Extension which is broadly inclusive of public sector, private sector and civil society

stakeholders. At the Policy Forum, the proposed policy with be reviewed, discussed and

validated. The Steering Committee will then make its recommendation on the draft policy

based on the outcome of the Policy Forum.

iii. The policy instrument is formally approved at the relevant level of authority.

During Mainstreaming and Learning, SNEC will monitor implementation of the policy 63.

according to the agreed monitoring indicators and report to the ASPIRE Steering Committee on

progress. For each approved policy a communication and roll-out plan will be developed which

includes the roles and responsibilities for national level and local level leadership in the

communication and implementation of the new policies. ASPIRE capacity development for

“leadership for change” (Component 2.2) will support the successful implementation of the new

policies.

The policy process as outlined here will be reviewed and validated by the Steering Committee 64.

during its first meeting and modified as required in the light of implementation experience.

The ASPIRE Secretariat will play a key role in policy coordination and development, including 65.

administering meetings of the policy forums and conducting a number of specific studies.

SNEC, in line with its mandate to advise the senior leadership of RGC on policy issues, will play

a strategic role in policy research and impact evaluation in order to feed the policy process with

quality evidence. Key policy instruments will be submitted for approval at the level of the MAFF

Minister or higher in accordance with RGC policy formulation protocols.

A basic policy framework is proposed in the design of ASPIRE and will be validated as a key 66.

outcome of Phase 1. It is anticipated that policies will include definition of roles and

responsibilities of technical departments and sub-national administrations; a facilitative

regulatory framework, priorities for allocation of public resources to support extension and

guidance on capacity development.

Sub-Component 1.1: Policy Coordination and Development: The ASPIRE Secretariat will 67.

provide overall coordination of the policy development process including support to the ASPIRE

Steering Committee and the Policy Forum. The Secretariat will directly contract studies to

support development of the resource allocation framework and mobilisation of resources for the

national extension programme. The Secretariat will be supported by an international expert in

drafting of policy documents for 14 person-months during 2015-19.

Sub-Component 1.2: Policy Research and Analysis: An Analytical Unit for the Agriculture 68.

Sector will be established within SNEC. Through a learning by doing approach and particularly

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the experience of implementing and analysing a structured programme of policy studies,

ASPIRE will contribute to the long-term capacity development of SNEC in this area. The

Analytical Unit for the Agriculture Sector will have funding support for strategic policy studies

across the agriculture sector as a whole, in addition to the studies directly related to the

ASPIRE policy process. Investment costs will include technical assistance for policy research,

costs of policy studies, stakeholder dialogue events, peer review, publications, costs to support

South-South cooperation and exposure visits, and research grants for postgraduate or post-

doctoral researchers. Operational costs of the Analytical Unit will include salary support and

expenses for SNEC staff, office costs and publication costs.

In the first year of ASPIRE, policy studies will include (1) a situation review of the extension 69.

sector in Cambodia, including policy, financing and public sector, private sector and civil society

delivery mechanisms; and (2) a comparative review of international experience on extension

services and the State role in extension in countries comparable to Cambodia.

Sub-Component 1.2 provides SNEC with funding to support strategic policy studies in the 70.

agriculture sector going beyond those directly linked to the ASPIRE policy process and to

extension. This is to enable the Analytical Unit for the Agriculture Sector to support strategic

policy work and to establish capacity and a record of achievement across the whole sector. This

funding may be used to contract policy studies, to employ short-term researchers to study

specific topics in-house or for other types of policy development expenditure.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) will implement a Randomized 71.

Controlled Trial (RCT) to assess the impact of different agricultural extension mechanisms

among Cambodian farmers. This activity will be financed by the International Initiative for

Impact Evaluation (3IE). The RCT will be implemented during the 2015/16 agricultural seasons

in the target areas of IFAD’s PADEE project and will provide the RGC with evidence-based

policy recommendations before the expansion of ASPIRE in 2018. The study’s

recommendations will highlight the potential impact that ASPIRE might have on agricultural

productivity and rural incomes. It will also inform about possible improvements to the extension

model through performance-based incentives and better information flows through ICTs.

Component 2: Capacity Development for Extension Services

Sub-Component 2.1: Improving Extension Quality and Knowledge Management will 72.

establish the Extension and Research Advisory Board. In addition to its role in setting the

policy agenda discussed above, the Board will be responsible to (i) improve extension

coordination between line departments and with non-government providers of extension,

(ii) ensure the overall quality assurance of Public Extension and (iii) oversee the Extension Hub.

The suggested membership of the ERAB includes a MAFF Secretary of State as Chair, heads

of the line departments, heads of the research and training institutes, representation of the

MAFF Climate Change Technical Team, representation of PDA (rotational), and representatives

from SNEC, private sector, development partners and farmer advocacy bodies.

Defining roles, responsibilities and processes: There is very little coordination within the 73.

public system in relation to extension. This is largely due to lack of clarity on roles,

responsibilities and processes for individuals and institutions. ASPIRE will support mapping of

the current situation then, with stakeholder coordination, will identify the areas that need further

definition, gaps and areas of opportunities. The resulting framework will become part of policy.

ASPIRE will support an internal process to develop clear and appropriate job descriptions,

against which performance can be monitored (this will include the review of the staff appraisal

system developed under CAAEP), for extension staff.

The Extension Hub is a mechanism to coordinate the day to day implementation of agriculture 74.

extension policies and activities by all technical departments of MAFF under the oversight of

the ERAB. The capacity of the Department of Agriculture Extension of GDA (DEA) will be

enhanced so that it can act as the Secretariat of the Extension Hub. Extension Hub operations

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supported by ASPIRE include: (1) Integration of existing extension materials and web content;

(2) development of new extension materials and training content; (3) development of a system

of extension demand assessment and extension service planning; (4) establishment of the

Extension Portal, (5) outreach activities and (6) development and implementation of quality

assurance systems.

Integration of existing extension materials will proceed by (1) conducting an inventory of 75.

existing materials, classified by format and subject matter; (2) creating a basic reference

repository of these materials within the Extension Hub; (3) selectively reviewing materials and

recommending appropriate materials for widespread adoption and use; and (4) digitization of

selected material into the extension portal.. The decision to recommend any material will be

taken by the Extension and Research Advisory Board based on the recommendation of suitably

qualified members of the Board. This process will eventually be integrated with the Quality

Assurance process.

Development of New Extension Materials and Training Content: It is planned to develop 76.

and validate two training packages and to review and update a minimum of two existing training

packages in each year from 2016 – 2021. It is expected that materials developed will

increasingly include visual web-based, video, and interactive (user input) materials as well as

traditional printed material. ASPIRE will support professional production of short videos

complementary to the FFS materials. All extension content developed under ASPIRE will

promote climate resilient agriculture. ASPIRE will support the cascade training (master trainers

and training of trainers) for new and revised packages.

Demand Assessment and Extension Service Planning: This activity will set up the 77.

mechanisms and systems to assess the needs of farmers effectively and regularly; to make

sure that agricultural extension responds to those needs; and to monitor the outcomes of

extension services to feed into agriculture extension planning. The Extension Hub will support

the Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan with expertise, resources and data. The system will

include tools for measuring climate vulnerability and adaptive responses. The system will rely

on multiple approaches to assess demand and an institution mechanism to convert these into

actionable plans. The data collected will be processed by the extension hub, whose role it will

be to convert all relevant data into usable information and distribute to the relevant stakeholders

in the extension development chain. The key parts in the system will be the (i) farmer level

demand assessment systems, (ii) knowledge hub – statistical, and qualitative data analysis and

reporting function, (iii) support to extension advisory groups at the District and Province levels.

The Extension Portal will become, over time, the national repository of information, materials 78.

and resources for extension. The portal will initially consist of five core modules: (i) Content:

existing and new extension materials and technical information, will be catalogued, refined,

reviewed, and packaged into the portal. Selected materials will be converted into “e-learning”

tools and tested in the project. (ii) Monitoring: This module will be the repository for data

collected through various monitoring activities (or connect to existing databases), including

demand assessment activity described above, baseline and impact surveys, client satisfaction

surveys, and regular (digital) monitoring activities undertaken by programme staff, etc. The

information will then feed into both the sub-national and national systems to inform the planning

processes. (iii) End user interface: will initially consist of a website with a customized search

engine. The portal will also support the development of mobile based applications, particularly

decision support systems related to climate resilience. It will build on the “E-PADEE” sub project

under PADEE. (iv) Data Repository: Integration of existing databases in MAFF (i.e. FSMIS –

DAE, TeleCentre Cambodia, etc.) and elsewhere and (v) an extension service provider

directory.

Outreach Activities will support agriculture extension related expositions, fairs, field days and 79.

similar events. It is expected that the private sector service providers (including machinery

dealers, input suppliers etc.) will see these events as a useful part of their communications

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strategy and either partner in these events or contribute financially to participate. ASPIRE will

support dissemination of information and communications materials and will actively facilitate

media coverage of the programme, including by engaging an international journalist / media

consultant on an intermittent basis.

ASPIRE will support development of a methodology for Farmer to Farmer information 80.

exchange supported by the Commune Extension Worker (CEW). Strategies will include (i) clear

criteria for selection of key farmers (i.e. community orientated, respected in the community,

successful farmer, etc.), (ii) formation of networks including key farmers and other stakeholders

including cooperatives and farmer organisations, input sellers and produce buyers etc.,

(iii) training of CEW to facilitate this process and (iv) including key farmers in the SLG trainings.

ASPIRE will review existing methodology and update guidelines for establishing Farmer to

Farmer Learning Networks, support a workshop to validate the guideline and conduct Training

of Trainers.

Quality assurance: ASPIRE will support establishment of standards for extension delivery and 81.

a platform for better harmonization of activities by the numerous extension service providers

through a self-certification process. The success of this system will depend on provision of the

right incentives for service providers to participate; this will be addressed by involving

stakeholders in the development of the QA protocols for certification. Incentives for self-

certification will include enhanced access to the Extension Portal and ensuring

acknowledgment (branding) of material developers. Certification could become a requirement

for partnering/provision of government funded extension projects.

ASPIRE will also introduce and strengthen internal QA processes to the public system of 82.

extension delivery. This will include validation of extension materials, working within defined

roles and responsibilities and improving systems for review of AWPBs and other planning

processes.

Sub-Component 2.2: Strengthening Human Resources for Extension: ASPIRE will support 83.

preparation of a Human Resources Development Strategy in the first year of implementation.

The Strategy will be informed by the Capacity Development Study (Working Paper 3) and a

baseline survey of extension practitioners (financed under the M&E activities). The Strategy will

(1) estimate future needs for skilled personnel, (2) identify gaps in educational provision and

(3) propose improved MAFF human resources management procedures including recruitment,

gender equality, a clear system of promotions and incentives, training and self-learning.

The introduction of results-based demand driven extension and deeper engagement with the 84.

private sector will require a considerable change in the way extension is currently managed and

implemented. Staff will need new skills and changed attitudes to support this transition. ASPIRE

will support training of MAFF staff in key strategic skills including leadership, strategic planning,

business management, farm and crop budgeting, adult education techniques, communication

and facilitation skills, web content development, knowledge management, and content

development.

ASPIRE also recognises the need to improve the extension skill set of the next generation of 85.

skilled agriculture practitioners. Through a partnership with USAID, ASPIRE will provide

assistance to RUA and Agricultural Schools to (1) update and improve the extension curricula of

their undergraduate and diploma courses; (2) support the development of integrated in-service

education for Commune Extension Workers combining residential and e-Learning and providing

CEW and other extension agents at post-High School level with a recognised qualification; and

(3) foster the use of final year university undergraduates to undertake specific extension related

research in partnership with MAFF, PDAs and CARDI as appropriate.

ASPIRE will also seek opportunities to create internships and short-term work experience 86.

opportunities for agriculture students. Possible areas in which interns could be employed

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include the mass media campaigns, monitoring and farmer feedback activities, and possibly

support to planning and delivery of extension services.

Component 3: Improved Extension Services

Sub-Component 3.1: Provincial Sub-Programmes will be implemented within the MAFF 87.

Programme Budget framework and will integrate Programme Budget resource allocations and

Grants For Extension Services To Smallholders (GESS) financed by IFAD. Based on a decision

of the Minister of MAFF dated 18th April 2014, the PDAs in the five initial target Provinces of

ASPIRE will be constituted as Budget Entities and will implement Provincial Sub-Programmes

within Programme 1 of the MAFF Programme Budget structure.

Each participating PDA will prepare a Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan (PASP) based on 88.

MAFF policy and on an assessment of farmer needs and market opportunities. Extension

Advisory Groups including representatives of farmer organisations and the private sector will be

established at Province and District level and the PASP will be validated through stakeholder

workshops. In selected Districts, the planning activities will include participatory Farmer Needs

Assessment which will be integrated with Vulnerability Reduction Analysis to identify climate

change adaptation needs. The PASP will be updated annually and will inform the annual review

and update of the rolling 3-year Strategic Budget Plan of PDA. The PDA will use a 3-year

indicative allocation of Programme Budget resources and GESS to prepare the Strategic

Budget Plan and a confirmed annual allocation for preparation of the annual Programme

Budget.

Design of the GESS will be detailed in the PIM and will be subject to review and adjustment 89.

during implementation. Design elements defined in the PIM include (1) an allocation formula

based on the number of eligible smallholder farmers in each province and adjusted for an index

of vulnerability and for performance in previous years; (2) a set of minimum access conditions

which will include establishment of a Provincial Sub-Program targeting outcome level results

and with the PDA Director as Sub-Program Manager; (3) defined eligible expenditures of the

grant proceeds and (4) performance measures.

Performance will be measured using a Provincial Performance Scorecard with indicators in 90.

four areas: Results and Impact (linked to the Programme 1 results); Internal Process; Clients

(i.e. farmers) and Learning and Development. Results will be measured primarily by self-

reporting by PDA backed by spot-checks by ASPIRE Secretariat. A telephone survey contracted

to a call centre firm will be used to verify numbers of farmers reached and to measure farmer

satisfaction. The scorecard indicators will be designed to encourage implementation through a

balanced mixture of service delivery modalities and to reward PDA for successfully supporting

poor and vulnerable farmers.

It is expected that PDA will maximise returns on investment through identifying potential for 91.

improvements in farm profitability and resilience and, through the Programme Budget

mechanism, allocating available resources to a mixture of extension approaches including

public sector service delivery, public private partnerships, contracting-out of services and

support to local knowledge sharing networks (farmer to farmer learning) which will also

leverage the benefits of access to mass media extension.

The first GESS will be awarded in 2016. During 2015 ASPIRE will finance start-up activities in 92.

the pilot provinces, including preparation of the PASP, through a conventional line-item budget.

In Preah Vihear and Kratie provinces only, these first year budgets will include some provision

for extension services to farmers and support to farmer organisations, to maintain continuity

from the RULIP project which is ending in 2014. Continuity activities may include provision for

undertaking a training needs assessment, agriculture trainings and support for cooperatives

(financial literacy and cooperative management – based on the existing PADEE materials)

through the contracting out model.

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In the Foundation phase, PDA in pilot provinces will be constrained to allocate resources to 93.

three Comparative Models (District Work Plan, PPP and Contracting Out) delivery which will be

pre-defined in some detail. In Phase 2 (Proving) PDA will gain more discretion to vary the

resources allocated to each model and to adapt the approach based on lessons learned. By

Phase 3 (Scale-Up), the PDA in all provinces should have in place adequate capacity,

experience, together with a performance-based incentive structure (at the institutional and / or

individual level) to be able to programme the Grant resources freely within the constraints of

defined eligible expenditures.

District Work Plans: In the first round of PASP (2015), the pilot PDA will identify Districts with 94.

high potential for the public sector approach which is likely to be most applicable to assisting

smallholder farmers to improve their basic farming skills and strengthen their links to the

market. It is expected that an average of six Districts will be selected in each of the five pilot

Provinces. Preah Vihear and Kratie provinces will be allowed additional flexibility to maintain

continuity with RULIP by covering more Districts at a lower intensity. Half of the selected

Districts will begin operations in 2016 and half in 2017. This phasing in will allow time for the

PDA to assign sufficient staff to the DAO. A minimum of four permanent DAO staff with

comprehensive job descriptions including extension work, will be a pre-condition for allocating

Grant resources to the District Work Plans.

Initially, public sector farmer training will be delivered through Smallholder Learning Groups 95.

(SLG) of approximately 25 farmers each which will be formed from interested farmers or may

be based on an existing group such as a farmer cooperative. Each group will receive a

structured 3-year leaning and support programme designed to be attractive to productive

smallholders who are poor and / or vulnerable. Over 3 years, the SLG will participate in three

training modules, at least one farmer cross-visit and will receive follow-up support from the

DAO. The SLG will also be linked to the farmer-to-farmer learning networks. Training modules

will consist of approximately 10 half-day sessions and a demonstration and will be delivered by

two DAO officials in the first year, then by one DAO official who may work with a technical

specialist from PDA according to the subject matter.

Unlike previous IFAD projects ASPIRE will focus only on learning and will not finance farmer 96.

inputs (except for demonstration plots) either directly or through revolving funds. Smallholder

Learning Group activities will not include general financial support for purchase of inputs.

However the budget for each training module will include a provision for expenses including

demonstration inputs, refreshments etc and the group members will have discretion over the

best use of this budget. Training topics will address access to inputs and where appropriate this

may extend to experimenting with group purchasing or negotiation of price or credit conditions

with suppliers.

The Smallholder Learning Groups are not designed specifically to evolve into production or 97.

marketing cooperatives. However, the flexible funding arrangements for the Provincial Sub-

Programmes will permit PDA to support either formation of cooperative groups, or support to

existing cooperatives, where this is a cost-effective means of achieving improved and resilient

smallholder farm businesses. This is in line with MAFF policy to encourage farmer co-

operatives and with the analysis that the potential of cooperatives to raise farmer incomes and

collectivise risk is highly dependent on types of produce, market conditions etc.

Each District will begin with a work plan under which (on average) 60 SLG will be formed in the 98.

first three years. Therefore, a District starting operations in 2017 will complete the training of

60 SLG (1,500 farmers) by 2021, the final year of ASPIRE. By selecting 30 Districts,

45,000 farmers will benefit from this activity in the five pilot provinces.

In the same Districts, one CEW will be recruited in each of 6 Communes per District (on 99.

average). The CEW will be a local resident with suitable capacity working under contract to the

Commune Council and with coordination and technical support from DAO. The CEW role will

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build upon the experience of previous IFAD projects but the emphasis will shift from

implementation of project activities to a less intense but potentially longer-term role of

facilitating information sharing. ASPIRE will fund the costs of training and equipping the CEW

and will pay salary and operational expenses for three years. After three years, the Commune

Council will have the option of continuing to employ a CEW, financed through the Commune

Budget with a subsidy from ASPIRE, under a performance agreement between the Commune

and PDA.

The Farmer to Farmer Learning Network will sustain and build upon the results of farmer 100.

training (provided by Public Sector Deliver, Public Private Partnership or Contracting Out

models, or otherwise) by creating and supporting an environment in which available knowledge

is more effectively shared within local communities between farmers and other actors including

farmer cooperatives and organisations, local extension agents, local traders (input sellers and

produce buyers), local agriculture linked enterprises and the local administration; as well as

knowledge sharing between communities. The key strategies for Farmer to Farmer Learning

will comprise (1) development and strengthening of local networks; (2) support to farmer

cooperatives and organisations; (3) organisation of local events such as agriculture fairs,

competitions, cross-visits and locally organised demonstration and learning activities; and

(4) improving access to electronic and broadcast media information through extension agents

acting as local intermediaries.

CEW will be equipped with mobile devices and will be specifically trained to access and 101.

disseminate information from the Extension Portal as well as to assist farmers to learn from

broadcast extension materials.

Contracting Out Model: In the Contracting Out model, PDA will contract specialist service 102.

providers who may be firms or NGOs with proven capacity, to implement extension activities

where (1) the services require specialist skills that the PDA and DAO do not possess; (2) the

service does not displace any actual or potential private sector provision; (3) contracting out

increases the total number of farmers that can be supported (i.e. the constraint is the staff

capacity of PDA) or (4) the contracting out arrangement will result in increased long-term

capacity for PDA. Each PDA will be required to allocate at least 20% of the GESS to

contracted-out activities in the first two years of the PSP.

The contracting out model may be used to provide specialist types of training (for example, 103.

financial literacy) or to demonstrate innovative approaches to extension service provision (for

example, strengthening farmer-to-farmer learning). The model could also be used to target

groups with special needs, for example poor households with new access to land in the

commune social land concessions. In appropriate circumstances, the contracting out model

could be used to support extension activities by farmer organisations or cooperatives.

Public-Private Partnerships: Public Private Partnerships (PPP) can include a variety of 104.

arrangements in which public funds are used to encourage private sector firms or farmer

cooperatives to invest in delivering extension services, with the long term aim that the

arrangement becomes self-financing. The key feature is that the service provider supports at

least 50% of the total cost of the arrangement and expects to gain a commercial benefit from

improved farmer knowledge. PPP are suited to target smallholders with strong links to the

market and in areas of significant commercial potential. Nevertheless, the experience with the

iDE Farm Business Adviser scheme is that a high proportion (around 50%) of the FBA clients

are classed as poor under the ID-Poor survey. Therefore PPP is considered as an appropriate

means of benefitting the ASPIRE target group of smallholders and poor farmers with productive

potential.

ASPIRE will support three types of public-private partnership (PPP): (i) the service provider 105.

provides direct training to farmers with public facilitation and support; (ii) the service provider

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works with the PDA to train input sellers to pass extension messages to farmers, and

(iii) support to a social enterprise or farmer organisation with a self-financing business plan.

ASPIRE will work with companies and social enterprises, particularly those that have previous 106.

experience with PPP extension activities12

to identify the most appropriate opportunities for

PPP arrangements in the ASPIRE pilot provinces. The companies / social enterprises will then

work with the PDA in each province to plan the details of the arrangements. Provincial level

costs to support PPP will be financed from the GESS while national level costs will be included

in Provincial Sub-Programme coordination and support costs (below). Each Province will be

required to engage in at least one PPP arrangement with at least 1000 farmers as the ultimate

beneficiaries during the first two years of the PSP.

Coordination and Support: GDA will provide coordination, monitoring and support to 107.

Provincial Sub-Programmes. Including (1) organising national forums on specific technical

topics; (2) training of trainers; (3) participation and support to preparation of the Provincial

Agriculture Strategies; (4) monitoring of service delivery (5) expert support to develop solutions

to specific technical problems identified at local level or through the Extension Portal and

(6) commissioning technical and market studies of selected commodities with the aim of

improving advice to PDA in preparation of the Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan..

In addition to the GESS, Sub-Component 3.1 finances (1) the costs of motorcycles and 108.

smartphones for CEW; (2) equipment for PDA and (3) technical assistance for PDA consisting

of one management adviser, one M&E / MIS adviser and one finance and procurement adviser

in each Province.

Sub-Component 3.2: Innovations for Climate Resilient Agriculture will support 109.

demonstration and testing of promising innovations under smallholder farm conditions. Suitable

technologies may include, but will not necessarily be limited to, improved on-farm water

management, adjustments to the cropping calendar particularly including introduction of early

wet season rice or other crops, introduction of climate resilient varieties, introduction of new

crops with a potential to improve climate resilience.

The Extension and Research Advisory Board will identify and screen candidate technologies 110.

through discussion with research agencies including CARDI, universities and non-governmental

agencies. Once a technology has been selected by the ERAB, ASPIRE Secretariat will work

with the agency responsible for the innovation to develop a testing program. All tests will be

carried out in a participatory manner “on-farm” in the ASPIRE provinces; i.e. research station

based testing is not eligible.

Each testing program will include a knowledge development and communication plan to 111.

disseminate the results and mainstream the successful innovations through a review by the

extension hub and inclusion of the results in new extension materials. Innovations can also be

used as new evidence for the review of existing policies.

Sub-Component 3.3: Mass Media Campaign: ASPIRE will finance a mass media campaign 112.

with the objective of bringing extension messages and information about extension events and

activities to a broad rural audience. The mass media campaign will include climate change

awareness and will promote climate smart agriculture. Activities will include: (i) radio

broadcasts: annual seasons of 30 weekly programmes; (ii) an educational television show with

an entertaining, competition-based format which will be broadcast in annual seasons of

24 shows; and (iii) a mobile feedback show engaging farmers in discussion about the

programmes. The IFAD loan and grant financing and RGC contributions will finance the first

three years of the radio shows and the first two years of the television shows, after which it is

hoped to mobilise additional financing to continue. The farmer to farmer learning activities will

12

This will include companies working in partnership with GIZ-Green Belt and CAVAC projects – see Working Paper

#5.

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build upon and enhance the effectiveness of the mass media campaign through ensuring

further dissemination, discussion and understanding of mass media messages at the local

level. All broadcast materials will also be available via the extension portal.

Component 4: Infrastructure Supporting Climate Resilient Agriculture

Districts identified through the Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan (PASP) process as having a 113.

high level of climate vulnerability (3413

Districts within the 13 ASPIRE provinces) will receive

grants to finance investments within the mandate of the local administrations and consistent

with the Cambodia Climate Change Strategy (CCCS) comprising (1) the costs of climate

proofing local infrastructure with a role in agriculture production; and (2) the costs of

constructing local infrastructure that contributes directly to increasing the climate resilience of

local agricultural communities.

In drought-prone areas, investments are likely to be predominantly in canal irrigation and in 114.

small, multi-purpose reservoirs. In flood-prone areas, investments in drainage and flood

protection structures (including refuge mounds which can be used to keep livestock safe during

a flood) are likely to be important. Elevated roads in flood-prone areas will also be eligible

provided that there is a clear link to agriculture production.

It is estimated that about 70,00014

smallholder households will benefit from the infrastructure 115.

projects. Roughly half of these households will be beneficiaries of the extension services

(Component 3). ASPIRE will seek ways to maximise the synergy between the infrastructure and

extension service investments without compromising the discretion of the District

Administrations (for infrastructure) and the PDA (for extension) to select the highest value

investments.

Component 4 will support two financing instruments: (1) a Performance Based Climate 116.

Resilience Grant (PBCRG) which will be an annual allocation to each participating District and

will be composed of a basic formula-based element and a performance-based element; and

(2) a Specific Investment Climate Resilience Grant (SICRG) suitable for financing of larger sub-

projects. It is envisaged that each participating District will receive three annual allocations of

PBCRG and will become eligible for one SICRG based on demonstrated performance in

implementing PBCRG financed activities.

The PBCRG will not pay the full cost of constructing infrastructure, but only the cost of climate 117.

proofing (i.e. the incremental cost due to climate change), taken, as a proxy estimate, to mean

one-third of the total investment cost. Therefore the PBCRG will be used for co-financing

together with other resources available to the sub-national administrations, primarily the

Commune/Sangkat Fund and the District/Municipal Fund. This arrangement has been piloted

successfully under the LGCC project.

Because of the larger size of the investments to be financed by the SICRG, it is likely that co-118.

financing at the same ratio will not be possible (i.e. the SNA do not have co-financing resources

available at this scale). Therefore it is likely that the SICRG will be eligible to finance full

construction costs, but with a stronger test of contribution to climate resilience applied. SICRG

will not be disbursed before 2019 at earliest so this issue will be reviewed during ASPIRE Mid-

Term Review.

Each participating District (with the full participation of the Commune Councils) will develop a 119.

District Climate Resilience Strategy integrated with the District Development Plan. The District

Climate Resilience Strategy will be based on community participatory Vulnerability Reduction

13

These will comprise 12 Districts in the 5 pilot Provinces and 12 Districts in the identified expansion Provinces (i.e. the

PADEE provinces) with funding from IFAD loan and grant proceeds and RGC contributions, plus 10 additional Districts

in 3 additional Provinces for which additional funding will be mobilized. 14

Assuming costs of $500 per household for irrigation, $50 per household for roads and $100 per household for other

types. The outreach target for the 10 fully financed Districts is 50,000 households.

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Analysis (VRA) and on science-based climate change scenarios and will identify key impacts of

climate change, vulnerable locations and communities, potential adaptive actions and criteria

for prioritising investments. VRA will be integrated with the Farmer Needs Assessment in the

climate-vulnerable Districts. The District Climate Resilience Strategy will be approved by the

District Council.

The PBCRG is a grant to the District. Commune Councils will identify and propose investments 120.

from within their Commune Development Plans and Commune Investment Programmes. The

highest priority proposals will be selected by a joint meeting of the District and the Communes.

Therefore, in each year, a number of Communes within the District will receive allocations of

the Grant and will implement sub-projects, with co-financing from their Commune/Sangkat Fund

allocations. SICRG sub-projects will be implemented directly by the District Administration. The

District Administration will be responsible to monitor and report on the use of funds at both

Commune and District levels.

Infrastructure will be designed and constructed in conformance with the NCDD-S Technical 121.

Manual and template designs which are applied to Commune/Sangkat Fund investments. It is

understood that NCDD-S intend to apply part of the proceeds of financing from the ADB Special

Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR) program to developing specific technical standards for

climate proofing of infrastructure in vulnerable areas. Design and construction supervision will

be by engineers contracted to the District but with national and provincial level participation in

recruitment. NCCD-S will employ a full time national infrastructure adviser who will review the

designs and intervene to improve designs where necessary. A Technical Audit of infrastructure

constructed in 2016 and 2017 will be carried out in time for the ASPIRE Mid-term Review.

A commitment to maintain the completed investments will be a condition for eligibility of the 122.

investments. For roads and other purely public infrastructure the body responsible for

maintenance will usually be the Commune Council that implements the investment.

Maintenance of irrigation infrastructure should be financed from the value of the additional

production. Maintenance responsibility is assigned to a Farmer Water User Community which

collects water fees. However, experience in Cambodia is that FWUC are typically weak and find

it difficult to collect fees at an adequate level. ASPIRE will encourage the formation of PPP

arrangements in which a private provider partners with the FWUC to operate the scheme,

collect fees and maintain the infrastructure. Districts will need to demonstrate adequate

performance in maintenance of infrastructure to qualify for increments of the PBCRG and for

the SICRG.

NCDD-S will be the grant awarding body and ASPIRE will support necessary administration 123.

and technical assistance costs. Administration and technical assistance to the CRIF will be

integrated with the implementation arrangements of the National Programme for Sub-National

Democratic Development (NP-SNDD) which provides capacity development support to the

District Administrations. NCDD-S will conduct an annual Performance Assessment which will

(1) confirm that participating Districts meet the Minimum Conditions for access to grants and

(2) assess performance against a set of Performance Measures which will determine the size of

the Performance Allocation in the subsequent year.

Component 4 supports technical assistance, equipment and operations costs at NCDD-S and 124.

Provincial level. The technical assistance team will consist of one national infrastructure adviser

and one national climate change adaptation adviser.

Mainstreaming Climate Resilience

ASPIRE supports the Cambodia Climate Change Strategy and the MAFF Climate Change 125.

Action Plan. Indicators from the M&E Framework of the CCCS (currently under development)

will be integrated into the ASPIRE M&E arrangements.

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In Component 2, by inclusion of MAFF members of the Climate Change Technical Team in the 126.

membership of the Extension and Research Advisory Board and by mainstreaming climate

change adaptation in education and training. All materials developed under ASPIRE will be

informed by climate change considerations.

In Component 3.1, by use of climate risk indicators (vulnerability, exposure and hazard) in the 127.

allocation formula for grants and in the performance measurement of the Provincial Sub-

Programmes; and by integration of Vulnerability Reduction Analysis (VRA, a participatory

scenario development and livelihood impact analysis methodology already in use in Cambodia)

in the preparation of the Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan.

In Component 3.2, identifying, testing and disseminating technology solutions for climate 128.

resilient agriculture, using a Participatory Agriculture Research, (i.e. on-farm testing and

demonstration) approach financed by the Innovations Fund.

In Component 4, through VRA, eligibility criteria for climate resilient infrastructure investments, 129.

use of climate change risk indicators in selection of investments, and by promoting use of

improved technical standards and guidelines.

ASPIRE will form partnership and cooperation arrangements with other programmes for climate 130.

resilience in the agriculture sector, particularly the forthcoming UNDP-GEF resilient livelihoods

project, and potential linkage of ASPIRE with a forthcoming biogas programme to be financed

by GEF and implemented by IFAD.

F. Lessons learned and adherence to IFAD policies

The design of ASPIRE is strongly influenced by the outcome of the final review of the COSOP 131.

2008-12 as well as the Scaling Up Country Study carried out by IFAD in 2011, reflections on

experience during formulation of COSOP 2013-18 and early implementation experience with

PADEE. ASPIRE does not represent a break with the previous IFAD project approach but rather

an evolution and a mainstreaming of IFAD experience into the policies, systems and working

procedures of MAFF. Some elements of the ASPIRE approach are already being tested in

RULIP and PADEE.

ASPIRE also reflects the evolving policies of RGC for the agriculture sector based on 132.

evaluation of implementation of the overarching Rectangular Strategy (2008 – 2013) and

incorporated in the revised Rectangular Strategy (2013-2018) and the National Strategic

Development Plan.

The review of the COSOP 2008-12 identified the need for a more programmatic approach in 133.

order to maximise the synergies between projects, improve knowledge management,

harmonise with development partners and ensure sustained improvements to the capacity of

the public extension service.

The Scaling Up Study also emphasised the importance of improved knowledge management 134.

and identification of opportunities. ASPIRE responds to the recommendation of this study that

“IFAD [in Cambodia] rebalance its operational goals with more of an emphasis on becoming

truly a learning and scaling up organization.”

Supervision reports and the COSOP Review identified the need to increase the focus of project 135.

management at all levels on achievement of results, as opposed to delivery of activities and

outputs. This has implications for project planning, monitoring and evaluation and for the type of

financing instruments (performance related grants instead of pre-determined line-item budgets).

The ASPIRE design learns from innovations in demand-driven planning of extension services in

RULIP and builds on an improved approach to M&E in PADEE.

Previous IFAD projects have demonstrated success in assisting smallholders to improve their 136.

farm businesses but have been less effective at integrating the lessons learned into policy in

producing sustained improvements in institutional and human resources capacity. This lesson

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informs the multi-level design of ASPIRE and the strategy of alignment with and improvement of

the MAFF Strategic Budget Plan.

Weak coordination between different actors in the extension sub-sector, within MAFF and 137.

including non-government agencies, results in limited sharing of information and knowledge.

This is a problem at all levels. ASPIRE will seek to improve information flows through policy and

institutional changes as well as through improved use of technology. ASPIRE will build on the

experience of using information technology for extension support and project monitoring piloted

by PADEE.

Experience has shown that extension staff working on IFAD projects are not equipped with the 138.

full set of skills needed to deliver a demand-led, market-orientated extension service. Only a

minority of the staff have formal extension training. Training methods reflect a teacher-centred

tradition and are not always appropriate for trainees with limited formal education. There has

been much emphasis on production techniques for basic foodstuffs and less on assessing the

profitability of farm enterprises or accessing market opportunities. ASPIRE will seek to

strengthen the human resources for extension through a mixture of short-term training for

existing staff and improvements to academic education of the next generation of extension

workers.

IFAD projects including RPRP, RULIP and PADEE have targeted poor farmers through a wealth 139.

ranking system. When applied in a too rigid way, and combined with the incentive of access to

the revolving funds supported by those projects, this can result in recruitment of farmers who

may have very little interest in the subject matter of the trainings. It is also desirable for training

groups to include a greater diversity of farmers. In ASPIRE, the primary criterion for

membership of a learning group will be the farmer’s desire to learn, with the training content

being tailored to match the needs of the target group.

The Farmer Field School approach used in previous projects is time-consuming and evolved 140.

during a period when it could be assumed that farmers were under-employed for much of the

year. The present situation in rural Cambodia is of labour shortage due to increased

employment opportunities, locally and via migration. ASPIRE does not abandon the FFS

approach but through the SLG will focus on a smaller number of shorter training sessions with

more interactive engagement of farmers and greater use of multi-media materials. This

approach will also facilitate delivery of trainings through the permanent staff of the District

Agriculture Office, instead of mobilising large temporary teams as is the approach in PADEE.

ASPIRE will continue and build upon the development of up-to-date, market orientated and 141.

climate-smart extension materials begun under PADEE.

ASPIRE will be the first IFAD project in Cambodia since RPRP to include an infrastructure 142.

component. The design of the climate resilient infrastructure activities learns from the

experience of infrastructure investments in CBRDP and RPRP, as well as from the LGCC

model being piloted by NCDDS.

Programme design complies with key IFAD policies and strategies in relation to Gender and 143.

Targeting as described in Annex 12.

III. Programme implementation

A. Approach

ASPIRE marks a further progress in the use of national systems for aid delivery in Cambodia 144.

and seeks to build partnerships for a Programme Based Approach with other development

partners. In doing so, and by emphasising achievement, measurement, evaluation and reward

of results, ASPIRE reflects the principles of the Paris Declaration (2005), and the Accra Agenda

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for Change. ASPIRE also emphasises the role of the private sector and civil society in line with

the Busan Declaration of 2011.

ASPIRE is designed as a public sector reform programme within the extension sub-sector. This 145.

places ASPIRE in contrast to ongoing major agriculture development projects in Cambodia –

HARVEST (USA) and CAVAC (Australia) which deliver services principally or entirely outside

the public sector framework. ASPIRE shares with these projects the perception that the

extension service must be diverse, market-oriented and able to mobilise the resources and

capacity of the private sector and civil society. However ASPIRE seeks also to strengthen the

capacity of the public sector to coordinate extension and to direct public resources to achieve

policy goals and address market failures.

The public sector reform agenda requires a long-term perspective. The intended result is a full 146.

programme-based approach (PBA), mobilising development partner resources in harmonised

support to government policy goals. During preparation of the RB-COSOP, a number of options

for a PBA were examined and discussed with stakeholders. At the request of RGC, ASPIRE will

move to a PBA through an increasingly close alignment with the Strategic Budget Plan and

Programme Budget arrangements of MAFF. This approach creates challenges as neither the

planning nor the implementation of the Programme Budget meet the needs of ASPIRE at

present. However aligning with Programme Budget also creates the opportunity to work with

RGC to improve this system, in particular by introducing a greater emphasis on programming

for results and incentivising performance. Alignment with Programme Budget implies alignment

with RGC policy but also extends the influence of ASPIRE to a large and increasing share of

the MAFF budget15

and should ensure that results are sustained beyond the programme

period.

ASPIRE will finance service delivery (extension and climate-resilient infrastructure) through 147.

flexible grant financing instruments. The sub-national implementing agencies (PDA and District

Administrations respectively) will be accountable to use these grants in the most cost-effective

manner to achieve target results. This will change management perspectives from the

traditional supply-driven approach. Planning of extension services will focus on identifying

unrealised potential for inclusive agriculture GDP growth and on responding to farmer demand.

The grant funding will provide flexibility to choose the most appropriate mix of activities and the

most appropriate delivery mechanisms in the local context.

The focus on results will be supported by financial incentives for performance. These may 148.

operate at both the institutional and the individual level. The PDA will gain increased grants and

more discretion in how the grants are used by meeting performance and capacity development

targets. Districts will receive increased allocations of PBCRG and eligibility for the SICRG

based on annual performance assessments. At individual level, ASPIRE will support a

performance-related pay scheme based on performance measures integrated in the core job

descriptions of staff members. This scheme will be based on a scheme recently agreed by

RGC and key donors for the Health Sector PBA and is outlined in Appendix 5.

By demonstrating success in using and improving national systems, and by assisting RGC to 149.

redefine the relationship between the public extension service, the private sector and civil

society, ASPIRE will encourage other development partners to make use of these systems. The

outlines of a Programme Based Approach are not pre-determined: there is scope for flexibility in

the modality of support provided by each partner in accordance with its priorities and

institutional constraints, led by government policy and aligned through a framework of effective

demand identification, planning and measurement of results.

ASPIRE will develop strategic partnerships with other programmes supporting agriculture and 150.

climate change adaptation. These partnerships will involve strategic cooperation and in some

cases may evolve into more formal arrangements. Exploratory discussions have taken place for

15

Currently about 15%, but RGC plans to bring 100% of the MAFF budget within PB arrangements by 2015.

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cooperation and possibly co-financing or parallel financing of some activities with USAID and

mutual cooperation between ASPIRE and the GEF-financed Resilient Livelihoods Programme

under preparation by UNDP. The EU-financed programme in the Livestock and Fisheries sub-

sectors has areas of mutual interest with ASPIRE. Through NCDD-S ASPIRE will benefit from

cooperation with the National Programme for Sub-National Democratic Development including

associated sub-national climate change adaptation financing.

A specific opportunity has been identified for a Programme Implementing Partner to support 151.

technical assistance for capacity development, process facilitation, knowledge management

and development of extension materials within ASPIRE Component 2. Such a partner would be

an agency with specialist skills and demonstrated record of performance, that would also be

able to mobilise a significant part of the costs as additional financing for ASPIRE. This idea will

be developed further during the period up to negotiation of the programme financing.

ASPIRE will be implemented from 2015-2021, at national level and in five pilot provinces, with 152.

expansion into at least an additional five provinces, and, contingent on mobilisation of additional

funds, up to eight additional provinces, after mid-term review in 2018. Three phases of

implementation, defined by intermediate outcomes, are described in Section II-B above. Each

phase represents an increasingly close alignment between ASPIRE and the MAFF Strategic

Budget Plan The timing of transition between phases is not predetermined but will depend on

verification of results achieved. It is anticipated that Phase 1 (Foundation) will occupy

approximately the first two years of the programme (2015-2016) while time required for Phase 2

(Proving) will be at least a further two years. Provisionally, Phase 3 (Scale-Up) arrangements

could apply to the final three years 2018-21 but this transition, and the details of implementation

arrangements in this phase, will be subject to confirmation at the Mid-Term Review.

The Provincial Sub-Programmes will also be subject to phased implementation corresponding 153.

to the three phases of the programme. However, there will be flexibility for variation in the timing

of graduation between phases in each Province, subject to the condition that at least four of the

five pilot provinces should achieve key Phase 2 targets before the programme as a whole

moves to the Scale-Up phase. MAFF senior management recognises that roll-out of

Programme Budgeting is a substantial challenge. ASPIRE's will support the wider roll-out of PB

in MAFF through technical assistance and capacity building of key departments and staff. In

this respect, the ASPIRE team will coordinate with the EU fisheries and livestock programme.

This will accelerate the maturity of PB in MAFF and thereby facilitate the readiness of MAFF to

be able to progress ASPIRE to Phase 2 and beyond.

B. Organizational framework

ASPIRE will be overseen by a Steering Committee (SC) co-chaired at Secretary of State level 154.

by MEF and MAFF, and with representation from CARD, SNEC, NCDDS and Ministry of

Environment (MoE) as well as participating provinces together with a limited number of

representatives of development partners, civil society (farmer organisation) and the private

sector who will be appointed for not less than one year. The SC may invite additional resource

persons/agencies to discuss specific agenda items as and when required. For effective work

and decision making the total membership of the Steering Committee should not exceed

20 persons.

MEF is the official Representative the Kingdom of Cambodia as the Borrower/ Recipient. In this 155.

role MEF will be responsible for: (i) Providing inter-agency coordination when required;

(ii) Fulfilling the government fiduciary oversight and management responsibilities; (iii) Providing

sufficient counterpart contribution in a timely manner to finance the Programme activities,

including payment of government staff salaries; (iv) Timely processing of WAs, approval of

procurement actions and other necessary documents according to the SOP.

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Without duplicating the function of the ASPIRE Secretariat, the Office for Multilateral 156.

Cooperation II (OMCII)/Department of Cooperation and Debt Management (DCDM)/General

Department of Budget (GDB)/MEF will support ASPIRE Steering Committee specifically for

coordinating and following up meetings and overall administration tasks while DCDM and

Department of Budget (DB) of the GDB/MEF will follow up and monitor the implementation of

Programme Budget.

MAFF will be the Executing Agency. MAFF will take responsibility for overall programme 157.

management, coordination and reporting while agencies and line departments of MAFF will

undertake the majority of technical work at national and sub-national levels. SNEC will

undertake policy research and analysis (Sub-Component 1.2). NCDD-S will be the

implementing agency for Component 4. Provincial Sub-Programmes will be implemented by the

Provincial Departments of Agriculture. District Administrations will be the recipients of Climate

Resilience Grants (from NCDDS) and will either implement directly or through sub-grants to the

Commune Councils. The Commune Councils will contract Commune Extension Workers and

play an important role in coordination and monitoring of extension service delivery.

Planning of Provincial Sub-Programmes and Climate Resilience activities will be integrated with 158.

the sub-national planning processes at each level, overseen by the Provincial, District and

Commune administrations respectively.

ASPIRE will be led by a MAFF Secretary of State as Programme Director. The Programme 159.

Director will be supported by two Programme Managers within MAFF (responsible for

(a) Extension, technology and research, and (b) Programme Budgeting, respectively) and one

Programme Manager within NCDD-S. The Programme Manager - Extension, Technology and

Research will be the Director General of the General Directorate of Agriculture, MAFF. The

Programme Manager - Programme Budgeting will be the Director of the Department of

Planning and Statistics, MAFF. The programme leadership team will additionally include the

Team Leader of the Decentralized Advisory Team who will act as the ASPIRE Programme

Advisor.

The Programme Director will oversee a dedicated ASPIRE Secretariat which will comprise: 160.

(a) a Secretariat Support Team (SST) of contracted staff that will be primarily focused on

programme management aspects of the ASPIRE programme itself, and,

(b) a Decentralized Advisory Team (DAT) that will be primarily focused on capacity building

of central and provincial departments of MAFF related to performance based programme

budgeting and management, agriculture and extension related issues under Components

2 and 3 and policy research under Component 1.

The ASPIRE Secretariat will undertake programme management, coordination and M&E tasks, 161.

as well as implementation of sub-component 1.1 (Policy Coordination and Development). The

Secretariat will be staffed by about 10 full-time contracted staff selected on the basis of merit,

experience and potential to learn fast. The Secretariat will work closely with the Department of

Planning and Statistics and the Department of Finance which are responsible for administration

of the Programme Budget. Through the Programme Budget mechanism, the ASPIRE

Secretariat will coordinate the work plans of the technical agencies, principally GDA and DAHP

at national level and the PDA.

The purpose of the ASPIRE Secretariat is to create the temporary administrative capacity 162.

needed to implement the programme-specific functions. MAFF agencies and line departments

will undertake the majority of technical work at national and sub-national levels under

Components 1, 2 and 3.

The mandate of SNEC is to provide policy advice to the senior leadership of RGC. SNEC 163.

consists of senior officials of MEF and other Ministries supported by a Secretariat. SNEC has a

track record of achievement in developing policy for the agriculture sector. However its

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administrative capacity is limited and it lacks experience in conducting primary research. The

role of SNEC in ASPIRE will add independent voice to the policy dialogue and link ASPIRE to

senior policy-making levels of Government. SNEC participation in ASPIRE in turn will enhance

the capacity of RGC to formulate policy in the agriculture sector.

NCDD-S is responsible to oversee implementation of the National Programme for Sub-National 164.

Democratic Development and as such, has a relationship of coordination and support with sub-

national administrations. The primary role of NCDD-S in ASPIRE will be implementation of

Component 4 which scales up an existing pilot initiative of NCDD-S in local investments for

climate resilience. NCDDS will also assist in facilitating cooperation with Provincial and District

administrations, particularly for planning purposes. The proposed co-financing of the CEW

position through the Commune budget would require the facilitation of NCDD-S. The NSDP

foresees an increasing role for the sub-national administrations in the management of technical

department staff (e.g. those of PDA and DAO) and, depending on how this develops, this could

point to a role for these administrations in the human resources development activities of

ASPIRE.

The PDA will be the implementing agency for the Provincial Sub-Programmes (PSP). PDA will 165.

be responsible for preparation of the annual budget for the PSP which will be consolidated into

the ASPIRE AWPB. Under the PSP, PDA will allocate funds to support activities of DAO,

contracting-out arrangements, public-private partnerships and CEW. PDA will be responsible

for monitoring all PSP activities and will be accountable for results. This role will require a

significant enhancement of the capacity of PDA which has traditionally been focussed on

implementing activities and reporting quantities of output achieved.

DOA is a sub-office of PDA with no independent plan or budget. Many DOA are weak with few 166.

effective staff and little equipment and no discretionary resources for operations. ASPIRE will

build permanent capacity in DAO by making adequate staffing levels and clear, appropriate job

descriptions a precondition for implementation of the District work plans. The intention is to

phase ASPIRE in at a rate which does not exceed the capacity of PDA to assign staff to the

DAO.

The Provincial Administration is responsible for coordinating development activities in the 167.

Province and in particular for the Provincial Development Plan, into which the Provincial

Agriculture Strategic Plan will be integrated. The Provincial Administration will play a direct role,

on behalf of NCDDS, in coordination of the Climate Resilient Infrastructure activities.

The District Administration will participate in planning and coordinating the District Work Plans 168.

under the PSP and will implement Component 4 activities directly and in cooperation with the

Commune Councils.

The Commune Council is the lowest tier of rural administration and routinely plays a significant 169.

role in grassroots planning and coordination of agriculture support activities. The Commune

does not have an administrative staff so agriculture support falls within the ex-officio

responsibility of the Fist Deputy Commune Chief for economic affairs. In ASPIRE, this role will

be enhanced through the assistance of the CEW who will be contracted to the Commune

Council. The Commune will assist in formation and coordination of Smallholder Learning

Groups and the Farmer To Farmer Learning Network. CEW will participate in Vulnerability

Reduction Analysis and preparation of the District Climate Resilience Strategy; identify and

propose investments for climate resilience, participate in selecting the highest priority

investments, and may implement sub-projects co-financed by their Commune/Sangkat Fund

resources.

Specialist service providers will be contracted to carry out a range of functions within ASPIRE. 170.

These will include policy studies, development of training materials and delivery of trainings,

and surveys for M&E at national level, and will include contracts for provision of extension

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services (Contracting Out model) at Provincial level. The Provincial Sub-Programmes will also

include Public Private Partnership arrangements which may take a variety of contractual forms.

Government and non-government entities in the extension sub-sector will be eligible to apply 171.

for innovation grants under Sub-Component 3.2.

ASPIRE will take a participatory and inclusive approach to implementation and this will be 172.

reflected at all levels. Stakeholders from Government, private sector and civil society will be

represented in the ASPIRE Secretariat and, more broadly, in the Extension Policy Forum and in

the annual Extension Workshop and other events. There will be non-government representation

on the Extension and Research Advisory Board. Stakeholders from all sectors will participate in

farmer needs assessment and in planning at Province and District levels. The Farmer To

Farmer Learning activities will develop local knowledge networks between stakeholders

including farmer organisations, the private sector and civil society.

IFAD is in discussion with RGC (MEF and MAFF) on options to finance specialist management 173.

technical assistance to support a rapid and efficient start-up of ASPIRE and to provide key

management assistance to the ASPIRE Secretariat during the first year of implementation. The

period for this support is anticipated to begin in the final quarter of 2014. One possible

financing option would be to use uncommitted funds allocated to ongoing PADEE project,

together with staff resources of the MAFF-PSU which will become free upon the closing of the

RULIP project. Priority activities for this support would include (i) review and finalisation of the

Programme Implementation Manual; (ii) detailed guidelines and procedures for MAFF-ASPIRE

Performance Based Rewards scheme for government staff working on ASPIRE; and

(iii) Updated job descriptions for PDA, DOA and CEW teams.

C. Planning, M&E, learning and knowledge management

Planning

Needs-based planning, data collection, measurement of results and knowledge management 174.

are integral to the design of ASPIRE. Service delivery will be planned based on an improved

understanding of smallholder farmers’ needs and market opportunities. Evidence of results from

the application of different approaches to extension will determine the planning of future

activities and the allocation of grant funds as well as forming the basis for policy development.

Planning of ASPIRE activities is integrated with the strategic and budget planning systems of

the implementing agencies and is intended to effect a sustained improvement by making these

systems increasingly evidence-based, inclusive and results-focussed.

Planning within the framework of the Program Budget: The MAFF Strategic Budget Plan 175.

and the annual Programme Budget are the key instruments for the annual planning activities of

ASPIRE. The Programme Budget formulation process is overseen by the Department of

Planning and Statistics (DPS) and consists of four steps beginning with a review of policy

priorities in January of the preceding year. The DPS issues a circular to the implementing

departments in February and annual departmental budget submissions are completed by

March. The consolidated budget proposal is submitted to MEF in June. MEF checks the

submission for compliance with the resource ceiling before passing it back to MAFF for

finalisation.

For ASPIRE funded activities, the Program Budget will include a table showing the allocation of 176.

ASPIRE funds alongside the allocation of MAFF Program Budget funds for each activity. Items

identified in the Program Budget as financed by ASPIRE will then be consolidated into the

ASPIRE Annual Work Plan and Budget in the usual way.

Some ASPIRE costs will remain outside the framework of the MAFF Programme Budget. These 177.

will include project management, monitoring and evaluation costs within the ASPIRE

Secretariat, costs of activities implemented by SNEC and Component 4 (Climate Resilient

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Infrastructure) costs, and the Innovation Grants. Some activities within MAFF that are essential

to ASPIRE but that do not appear within the MAFF Strategic Budget Plan, may remain outside

Programme Budget during the first phase of the project.

Annual AWPB Approval Process: During the final quarter of each year, the ASPIRE 178.

Secretariat will prepare the AWPB for the following year. The AWPB will be prepared by

consolidating (1) the ASPIRE activities within the MAFF Programme Budget; (2) non-

Programme Budget operations of ASPIRE in MAFF; (3) the annual ASPIRE work plan of SNEC;

(4) the annual ASPIRE work plan of NCDDS; and (5) the annual plan for the programme

management operations of the Secretariat.

The AWPB will be submitted by the Programme Director through MEF and approved by the 179.

annual meeting of the ASPIRE Steering Committee (SC). Because of the risk of timing

difficulties arising, the AWPB will be deemed approved if there is no comment by the members

of the Steering Committee or no meeting is held after a lapse of time of two weeks after

submission of the AWPB for review by the SC.

Planning in the Provincial Sub-Programmes: The key planning instruments for the Provincial 180.

Sub-Programmes will be a Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan and the three-year rolling

Budget Plan of the PDA. The Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan will be developed by a

Provincial Agriculture Working Group with representation from the Provincial Administration,

PDA and other relevant Provincial technical departments, the private sector and civil society.

District priorities will be determined by a District Agriculture Working Group including the District

Administration, the DAO, the Commune Councils, the private sector and civil society.

The key improvements to the preparation of the five year Provincial Agriculture Strategic 181.

Plan in each Province will be (i) Preparation through a participatory process with public

consultation meetings led by the Provincial Board of Governors; (ii) improved use of agronomic

and market data; (iii) Participatory Farmer Needs Assessments carried out in selected

representative communities and integrated with Vulnerability Reduction Analysis; (iv) stronger

focus on strategic results.

The Farmer Needs Assessment Team of the MAFF Extension Hub will provide technical 182.

assistance for preparation of the PASP and the District work plans. The roles of the Needs

Assessment Team will include providing data collected from national surveys including the

Major Impact Survey baseline, IVRP surveys etc as well as available data on soils (e.g. from

Agro-Ecosystems Analysis), climate and markets.

The Three Year Rolling Budget Plan of PDA is updated annually in the second quarter of the 183.

year. At present this is a line-item budget for recurrent costs of the PDA and does not allocate

resources to achieve results. With the creation of the Provincial Sub-Programmes, there will be

a Programme Budget section added to the plan which will show the Provincial Sub-Programme

Budget for the following year plus provisional planned activities for the two out-years. Each

Province will receive an indication of the ASPIRE resources available to support activities in the

Budget Plan, based on the PASP, during the following three years. The grant amounts received

may be adjusted based on capacity development and performance indicators and will be

confirmed in the final quarter of the year during the ASPIRE AWPB process.

ASPIRE will expand into the PADEE target provinces with planning activities taking place in 184.

2018 which is the final year of PADEE. The PADEE provinces will formulate Provincial

Agriculture Development Strategies and consolidate ASPIRE activities in their three-year rolling

Budget Plans. However, the details of the approach may be modified with the agreement of the

ASPIRE Steering Committee based on the experience of the initial five target Provinces.

The Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan and the District Extension Work Plans will be 185.

consolidated into the Province and District development plans and investment programmes in

line with the sub-national development planning guidelines.

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Climate Resilient Infrastructure: Planning of the Climate Resilient Infrastructure activities will 186.

be based on a District Climate Resilience Strategy (DCRS) which is integrated with the District

development planning process. The DCRS has been piloted by NCDDS and combines the

results of participatory Vulnerability Reduction Analysis (VRA) with science-based climate

change scenarios. The DCRS is prepared with the participation of the Communes in the District

and is approved by the District Council.

Communes will propose infrastructure projects that are included in their five-year development 187.

plans and annual investment programmes and that match the criteria in the DCRS. The District

Planning Committee screens and ranks these proposals using the criteria in the DCRS. The

resulting ranking is reviewed by a meeting with the Commune representatives and the available

Climate Resilience Grant funding is allocated to the highest priority investments. The resulting

work plan for the Climate Resilience Grant is reviewed and approved by NCDDS and is finally

approved by the District Council.

Monitoring and Evaluation

ASPIRE monitoring and evaluation will be coordinated by the ASPIRE Secretariat and will 188.

integrate three dimensions of results measurement: (1) the impact of ASPIRE; (2) performance

assessment; and (3) the cost-effectiveness of alternative modalities of extension service

delivery. A range of monitoring and evaluation tools will provide the information needed for

policy analysis and policy formulation (Component 1); design of capacity development activities

(Component 2) and planning of service delivery (Components 3 and 4) as well as providing

detailed and up-to-date information needed by programme management to ensure effective

delivery. The M&E systems will also provide for fiduciary monitoring (i.e. verification of

appropriate use of project funds).

The logical framework provides the casual links and the basis for the overall system for 189.

verifying programme performance based on expected outputs, institutional and community

outcomes and household impacts and incorporates indicators from the RIMS.

The range of M&E tools described below will be complemented and enhanced by research and 190.

knowledge activities throughout the programme components. In particular, the Randomized

Controlled Trials (RCT) conducted by IFPRI with support from 3iE (described under

Component 1 above) will complement the general results measurement with high quality,

statistically robust evidence of the effectiveness of key elements of the extension approaches,

thus corroborating and adding detail to the understanding of the findings of the M&E activities.

Management Information System: The Programme MIS will be the primary channel of 191.

programme monitoring and will support a comprehensive approach to data collection, analysis

and exchange with the main purpose of informing management decisions on programme

matters. MIS data will permit monitoring of programme process and outputs, especially

including conformance with eligible expenditures rules for grant financing. ASPIRE Secretariat

and NCDDS will conduct verification (process, financial and technical) of MIS data which will

also be available to facilitate spot-checking by IFAD supervision. Performance monitoring will

rely mainly on measurement of results by the implementing agencies, particularly PDA, but

performance measures will be independently verified. The ASPIRE Secretariat will contract and

manage the results verification surveys and the major impact assessment survey.

The Programme MIS will be managed by the M&E unit within the ASPIRE 192.

Secretariat and will be based on the system developed for PADEE. DAO and CEW will directly

upload data on field activities to the MIS. Quarterly and annual reports will be compiled at

District and Province level and in each implementing agency, based on the data already

recorded in the MIS.

Reporting on Component 4 will be incorporated into an existing MIS managed by NCDD-S 193.

(known as the PID) that monitors Commune investments including those funded by Climate

Resilient infrastructure grants.

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The Major Impact Survey will be carried out by a suitably qualified and experienced survey 194.

firm based on survey data collected at 3 stages: baseline, mid-term and an end-of-project. The

assessment focuses on the outcome and impact changes with attention given to the

effectiveness of targeting of beneficiaries, disaggregated by ID poor category and gender

where applicable. The Baseline Survey will be undertaken shortly after programme start-up

and will incorporate the farmer needs assessment used to develop the Provincial Agriculture

Strategic Plan (PASP). A statistically valid approach to sampling reflective of the target group

smallholder farmers over the 30 target Districts in the five initial ASPIRE provinces will be

developed by the survey firm. Follow-up surveys will be conducted to interview the same panel

of beneficiaries which will allow longitudinal analysis, and comparison to non-ASPIRE farmers..

The regular monitoring of activities and output indicators for Outcome 1 and Outcome 2 will be 195.

verified by an Independent Evaluation of Policy and Capacity Development. Progress will

be assessed by an independent evaluation team (one international and one national expert)

who will report to the Secretariat. The results of the assessment will be used by the ASPIRE

Steering Committee to determine when Stage 1 and Stage 2 of ASPIRE implementation are

substantially complete. Therefore, two studies will be carried out, one planned for 2016 and the

second (tentatively) for 2018.

An Extension Practitioner Survey will provide quantitative data for measuring the 196.

achievement of Outcome 2. A baseline with mid-term and end of programme surveys will be

conducted providing information on the number and quality of extension service providers. A

survey of a panel sample of extension practitioners in the public sector, private sector and civil

society will be constructed to approximate a representative sample. The survey will include

questions on qualifications, skills, knowledge, attitudes and practices of the practitioners; as

well as contact with and services received from MAFF.

Once extension activities commence details of the farmers entering the ASPIRE program will 197.

be collected by DAO staff and CEWs and upload directly to the MIS. Farmer tracking data will

be used to measure results of the extension programmes based the profitability and resilience

of the farm business. Information will be provided in format that allows cross referencing to the

impact survey data. An annual Results Verification Survey of a random sample of farmers will

verify the accuracy of the farmer tracking.

Performance of each of the Provincial Sub-programmes will be assessed using a Provincial 198.

Performance Scorecard (see example in Appendix 6). The scorecard will have indicators in

four areas: Results and Impact; Internal Process; Clients (i.e. farmers) satisfaction and reach;

and Learning and Development. Overall achievement against this scorecard will be

incorporated into the log frame reporting (Outcome 2).

NCDD-S will conduct annual performance assessments of Districts participating in 199.

Component 4 (Climate Resilient Infrastructure). The performance assessment system will be

based on one already piloted by NCDDS. The results of the performance assessment will

determine the size of the Performance Based Climate Resilience Grants in future years and will

also determine eligibility to apply for a Special Purpose Climate Resilience Grant.

Qualitative analysis will also be used to expand the understanding of the influences on and 200.

dimensions of change and impacts (including the effect of gender and climate vulnerability)

through the use of case studies and most significant change stories (MSCS).

Districts receiving Climate Resilience Grants will be obliged to conduct Participatory 201.

Evaluations of the sub-projects, following a methodology already piloted by NCDDS. The

evaluations will be conducted with a focus group of beneficiaries and will combine evaluation by

a team from NCDD-S with self-evaluation by the beneficiaries. The evaluations will seek to

measure the quality of the sub-project design and implementation process, the quality of the

outputs and the cost-effectiveness of the sub-projects as investments for climate resilience.

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The effectiveness of the different models of extension service delivery will be evaluated using 202.

Farmer Tracking and the Results Verification Survey supported by qualitative analysis. These

findings will then be validated using the Major Impact Survey data.

The Results Verification Survey will also provide verification of physical delivery of services 203.

under Component 3.1. For Component 4, a Technical Audit of infrastructure will be carried out

to verify quantity and quality of works delivered.

Links to M&E Framework for Climate Change: RGC launched the Climate Change Strategic 204.

Plan 2014 – 2023 in late 2013. MoE in partnership with IIED is developing a national M&E

framework based on the Tracking Adaption and Measuring Development (TASM) approach.

This framework will integrate national and sub-national development plans and actions as well

as consider measurement tools on a sector basis. IFAD and MAFF will continue to liaise with

MoE on the development of the national framework, indicators and tools and review the

ASPIRE log frame, when and if, national reporting requirements are established to ensure

harmonization.

M&E Technology: The MIS will be based on the one developed for PADEE and will use mobile 205.

technology for upload of data and access to reports. ASPIRE will test the suitability of

telephone surveys particularly for survey of farmer needs and satisfaction with services

delivered, and for spot checks of farmers reached. Telephone surveys could use Interactive

Voice Response System (IVRS) technology if this is found suitable.

Knowledge Management and Communications

ASPIRE is specifically designed to generate knowledge and to improve the capacity to use and 206.

share knowledge at all levels. Specifically, ASPIRE will result in improved knowledge in the

following areas:

(a) The efficacy and cost-effectiveness of different approaches to extension, subject to

different contexts (i.e. what works, where);

(b) Smallholder farmers’ needs for extension services, and how smallholders can be

assisted to identify and take advantage of emerging market opportunities;

(c) The capacities and appropriate roles of the public sector, private sector and civil society

in agriculture services in a Cambodian context.

An effective communications strategy will be integrated into the management of ASPIRE and 207.

into its components. The Communications Strategy will play a large part in ensuring the

programme achieves its outcomes. Specific inputs are planned by this communication strategy,

targeting the various levels of actors – in each of the components of the programme.

At policy level, the communications strategy will ensure that evidence-based policy analysis 208.

reaches key decision makers in digestible form, while also facilitating broad engagement of

stakeholders in the policy dialogue;

At Management level, the communications strategy will ensure efficient sharing of knowledge 209.

within the Secretariat, the Extension Hub and between the various technical departments of

MAFF to ensure that appropriate and demand driven methodologies can be developed and

scaled up for a program based approach;

At Implementation level, the communications strategy will assist in building ownership, sharing 210.

information and facilitating the change in attitudes and behaviour that are needed.

Strategic communications activities will be implemented in all programme components. The 211.

Communications Strategy will be coordinated by the ASPIRE Secretariat which will have a full-

time Communications Officer. Programme reports will include a specific section on

implementation of the Communications Strategy.

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D. Financial management and procurement

Financial Management

Disbursement arrangements and Flow of Funds. Consistent with ASPIRE institutional 212.

arrangements, the following agencies shall be involved in the implementation of the programme

activities, and as such, responsible for receiving and/or managing, accounting and reporting on

the use of funds:

(a) ASPIRE Secretariat, located within MAFF;

(b) Supreme National Economic Council (SNEC);

(c) National Committee for Sub-national Democratic Development Secretariat (NCDDS);

(d) General Directorate of Agriculture (GDA) at MAFF;

(e) Provincial Department of Agriculture (PDA).

The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and the ASPIRE Secretariat (MAFF) shall open 213.

and maintain in the National Bank of Cambodia the following Bank Accounts: (i) Two

Designated Accounts in USD to receive the IFAD Loan and IFAD/ASAP Grant proceeds from

the Loan and Grant Accounts maintained by IFAD; and (ii) One Account in USD to receive and

manage the Government Counterpart Fund for the Programme. As the integration between

ASPIRE and MAFF PB activities proceeds, the Government Counterpart account will receive

less funding with the reminder channelled to programme activities via increased allocations

under PB.

IFAD shall advance funds from the Loan and Grant Accounts to the Designated Loan and Grant 214.

Accounts based on an approved annual work plan and budget (AWPB) and cash flow

projection for six months planned activities. IFAD will provide advances for the six months

activities based on the approved AWPB. The ASPIRE Secretariat will transfer to all

implementing agencies six months budget. The release of subsequent advances shall be based

on the justification of 50% of the last advance and 100% of all preceding advances. MEF shall

transfer the Government counterpart funds to the Counterpart Funds Account based on the

same AWPB on a six monthly basis.

MEF shall authorize the opening of the following USD Programme Accounts for the IFAD Loan 215.

and Grant proceeds:

(a) Four Programme Accounts at the National level for the loan, which will be maintained

and operated respectively by ASPIRE Secretariat, GDA, NCDD, SNEC.

(b) One Sub-National Programme Account for the loan for each of the Provincial

Departments of Agriculture participating in ASPIRE which will be used also to manage

grants awarded under component 3

(c) Three programme accounts for ASAP maintained by ASPIRE Secretariat, SNEC and

GDA. One Sub-National Programme Account for the grant for each of the Provincial

Departments of Agriculture participating in ASPIRE;

MEF shall also authorize the opening of the following USD Programme Accounts for the 216.

Government Counterpart Fund proceeds:

(a) One Programme Account at the National Level (ASPIRE Secretariat);

(b) One Programme Account for GDA;

(c) One Sub-National Programme Account for each of the Provincial Departments of

Agriculture to be used initially.

All these accounts could be possibly phased out upon increased use of PB arrangements. 217.

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ASPIRE Secretariat shall advance funds from the main Programme Accounts to the accounts of 218.

the Implementing Agencies (IAs), namely: SNEC, GDA, and PDAs based on the approved

annual work plan and budget (AWPB) and cash flow projection for the activities to be

undertaken during the coming six months. Funds for NCDD will be transferred directly from the

Designated Account at MEF upon request of the ASPIRE Programme Director.

SNEC, GDA and PDAs are the ultimate administrators of programme bank accounts; NCDD-S 219.

instead will open a programme account for operational expenditures, while the portion of funds

dedicated for infrastructure related activities at provincial level will be channelled through the

national treasury system. Based on the AWPB, NCDD will transfer required funding to the

national treasury system. NCDD will identify correct administrative methodologies to charge to

RGC the tax element of expenses channelled through the national treasury system, considering

that such costs are ineligible under IFAD financing. The implementation of larger grants will be

assessed at mid-term review.

RGC contribution will flow directly from the RGC designated account to the ASPIRE Secretariat, 220.

GDA and PDAs programme accounts upon request from the Aspire Secretariat.

Accordingly, the flow of funds shall be as per the following diagram: 221.

Designated

Account

RGC

Designated

Account

IFAD Loan

Designated

Account

IFAD/ASAP

Grant

ASPIRE sec

Project acc.

RGC

ASPIRE Sec.

Project acc.

IFAD Loan

ASPIRE

Project acc.

IFAD/ASAP

Grant

SNEC

Project acc.

IFAD Loan

GDA

Project acc.

IFAD Loan

NCDD

Project acc.

IFAD Loan

PDA

Project acc.

RGC (x5)

PDA

Project acc.

IFAD Loan

(x5)

NCDD Central

Treasury acc.

IFAD Loan

Commune Sangkat

/District acc. at

provincial treasury

IFAD Loan in RIEL

SNEC Project

acc.

IFAD/ASAP

Grant

GDA Project

acc.

IFAD/ASAP

Grant

PDA Project

acc.

IFAD/ASAP

Grant (x5)

GDA

Project acc.

RGC

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ASPIRE Secretariat shall submit withdrawal applications on a quarterly basis justifying the 222.

advances received based on expenditures reports submitted by the implementing agencies.

Such withdrawal applications shall be prepared in accordance with IFAD requirements with

SOEs thresholds fixed at USD 50 000 for all cost categories. All expenditures above the

established thresholds shall be accompanied by related supporting documentation, as well as

all expenditures of every amount related to contracts of value exceeding USD 50 000. The

Secretariat shall prepare and submit the withdrawal application to IFAD (through MEF) on a

timely basis within 15 days after the end of each quarter starting from the first quarter after the

first disbursement is made. Withdrawal application will be submitted to IFAD every quarter or

when the required amount is approximately USD 1 million minimum.

Internal controls. Procedures and record maintenance at all level have to be significantly 223.

strengthened by addressing the issues of non-availability of skilled finance staff, setting up of

internal controls, setting up of effective monitoring and review, introduction of accounting

software, preparation of a detailed section in the PIM on Financial Management with guidance

notes. The Advisors will play an important role in the overall process. The system of joint

signatory for operating the bank accounts or appropriate authorization processes will have to be

introduced. Detailed procedures for adequate recording, management and safeguard of

programme fixed assets will be disclosed in the PIM..

Accounting systems, policies, procedures and financial reporting. The financial 224.

accounting of the ASPIRE will be done through a computerised accounting software at all

levels, which will be customised to generate financial reports for RGC and for IFAD respecting

specific reporting requirements. The customisation will be in such a way to disclose funds use

by component, sub-component, cost category and each of the funding sources to be collated

through the software. Customization will also include reference to the RGC’s Chart of Account

(COA). Budgetary control at activity level to be incorporated, also considering the RGC’s

budget classification, pending the deployment of a national system for PB management. The

accounting software has to be customised to generate required financial statements and details

of the achievements from the system itself. Each implementing agency will submit Monthly

Financial Progress Reports to the ASPIRE Secretariat electronically. ASPIRE Secretariat will

consolidate data received and will be the entry contact point with IFAD. ASPIRE Secretariat will

prepare annual consolidated financial statements including data provided by all other

implementing agencies. ASPIRE Secretariat and the Implementing Agencies shall apply cash

basis accounting principles in accordance with the updated Standard Operating Procedures

(SOP) for externally financed projects/programmes in Cambodia, issued by MEF, as per Sub-

Decree No. 74 ANK. BK dated 22 May 2012, on the condition that these procedures are

adequately adjusted to accommodate any specific financial management requirements of

ASPIRE while taking into consideration local circumstances and capacities in respect of the

implementation of ASPIRE activities at sub-national level. With the increased use of PB, the

MAFF Department of Finance and Accounts will monitor RGC portion of ASPIRE expenditures

and will regularly report back to the ASPIRE Secretariat.

Internal Audit. As the ASPIRE Secretariat will be a part of the MAFF, it will be subject to the 225.

activities of the MAFF Internal Auditor Office. In order to have more specific support, ASPIRE

Secretariat on an annual basis will contract a private internal audit firm to perform internal

controls review, propose improvements and issue recommendations. Implementation of such

recommendations shall be monitored during the following exercise. Main duties to be stipulated

in the TORs will include monitoring and review of the financial systems and procedures, their

application and adherence to the PIM, support the introduction of administrative efficiencies. It

would be a good practice to brief the appointed external auditors on the programme

components, methods of implementation, monitoring arrangements, etc. so that they could

deliver the reports effectively. Reports prepared by the internal audit firm will be submitted to

the attention of the Steering Committee and forwarded to IFAD.

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39

External Audit. Proper set-up of audit TORs will be a key safeguard for all stakeholders. A 226.

single private auditor will be hired for the annual audit of ASPIRE. In addition to IFAD usual

requirements, TORs will include visits to all implementing agencies at central and provincial

level, review of relevant documentation, physical verification on infrastructures built, sample

interviews to participants to extension trainings and people/companies awarded with grants.

The audit firm will be competitively selected through Quality and Cost Based Selection method 227.

of procurement with a weight age of 70:30 for quality and cost. The cost of the audit shall be

paid from the Programme proceeds. The firm shall audit the Programme’s consolidated annual

financial statements and operations, in accordance with International Standards on Auditing

complemented by terms of reference (TORs) acceptable to IFAD.

The auditor shall issue separate opinions covering the financial statements, statements of 228.

expenditures, management of designated accounts and programme bank accounts as well as a

management letter outlining any internal control weaknesses and recommended remedies;

more particularly, the auditor must ascertain that the information included in the annual financial

statements are correct, reliable, and present a true and fair description of the Programme

financial position. The management letter will provide an update on the status of

implementation of audit recommendations issued in previous years.

The audited financial statements and audit report shall be submitted to IFAD within six months 229.

after the end of each fiscal year and by the Programme closing date. The implementation status

of the audit recommendations shall be provided by each Implementing Agency on a quarterly

report to be submitted to the ASPIRE Secretariat and forwarded to IFAD.

Taxes. The proceeds of the IFAD financing may not be used to pay taxes which will be part of 230.

the contribution of the RGC to the programme. Social security benefits (employee’s portion)

and income tax (employee deductions) are eligible for financing.

Procurement

Procurement under the Programme shall be carried out in accordance with the revised SOP 231.

(2012) and other government rules and procedures16

and as long they are consistent with IFAD

Procurement Guidelines. For each contract to be financed by IFAD proceeds, the types of

procurement methods, the need for pre or post-qualification, estimated cost, prior review

requirements and time-frame shall have to be agreed between the ASPIRE Secretariat and

IFAD in the Procurement Plan to be submitted by the Implementing Agencies.

As per IFAD’s Procurement Guidelines, IFAD review of and no objection to the Programme 232.

procurement plans shall be compulsory, and any changes and amendments to the procurement

plan shall be subject to IFAD’s No Objection; the plans submitted by ASPIRE Secretariat must

include as a minimum:

(a) A brief description of each procurement activity to be undertaken during the period and

name of the implementing agency responsible for the procurement;

(b) The estimate value of each procurement activity;

(c) The method of procurement to be adopted for each procurement activity and;

(d) The method of review IFAD will undertake for each procurement activity indicating either

post review or prior review.

IFAD shall assess the suitability of the procurement procedures of the District Administration 233.

and the Commune Councils for procurement of works financed by the Climate Resilient

Infrastructure component.

16

Such as those provided for the procurement law (enacted in 2012), NCDDS Administration and Financial Manual,

and the regulations on the procurement by subnational administrations (SNA).

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40

IFAD prior review threshold will be established at USD 100,000.00 for goods and works and 234.

USD 50,000.00 for consultancy services and services.

The Programme shall include a number of actions to strengthen procurement capacity of IAs 235.

and mitigate procurement risks. In terms of capacity, the programme will include a Procurement

Adviser to provide procurement and fiduciary services to the programme (including training) in

addition to ASPIRE Secretariat Procurement Officer.

The design of the programme internal control framework shall include measures to address key 236.

control gaps existing within the current procurement process. The Procurement Advisor shall

support ASPIRE Secretariat and the implementing agencies in establishing these controls.

E. Supervision

Programme supervision in the first 12 to 18 months will focus on ensuring that key preparatory 237.

actions for implementing each component and for programme management, monitoring and

evaluation are in place. Service delivery activities are expected to commence in 2016,

approximately nine months after programme effectiveness.

The first key topic of supervision will be to verify that the key institutions for implementing the 238.

programme are established and functional. This will include the issue of official decisions at the

necessary level for establishment of the ASPIRE Steering Committee, the ASPIRE Secretariat

and the Extension and Research Advisory Board as well as the Analytic Unit for the Agriculture

Sector in SNEC. Supervision will verify that the Secretariat staff positions are filled with suitable

candidates who are working on a full time basis.

The second topic will be to verify that financial management systems are in place, bank 239.

accounts opened and operating and proper accounting records being maintained. The

supervision mission will also verify that there is adequate procurement capacity within the

ASPIRE Secretariat and that key procurement actions are being taken on time and in

accordance with procedures.

Supervision will evaluate the progress of planning activities in each component. For Component 240.

1, this will include preparation of the policy agenda and (by 2016) the policy framework. For

Component 2, this will include detailed work planning for each sub-component and activity, and

commencement of preparatory activities such as preparation of training materials and training

of trainers. For Component 3, the key activities to be verified in 2015 will be preparation of

Provincial Agriculture Development Strategies in the pilot provinces, selection of Districts for the

public sector service delivery activities, identification of vulnerable districts for the climate

resilient infrastructure activities, and planning of the contracted out and public private

partnership extension services. The Districts selected for the first round of climate resilient

infrastructure grants should prepare District Climate Resilience Strategies by the end of 2015.

Also by the end of 2015, the pilot Provinces should have completed planning for the Provincial

Sub-Programme activities from 2016-2018 (i.e. 2016 work plan and budget plus two out years).

By the end of 2015 District Agriculture Offices selected to begin implementation of District Work 241.

Plans in 2016 should be adequately staffed and the staff should have clear job descriptions that

include the tasks they will undertake with funding from ASPIRE. Supervision will verify the

preparation of and approval of job descriptions and the timely appointment of staff.

Supervision will verify that key M&E arrangements are in place. This will include preparation of 242.

the Programme MIS and procurement of services for the major impact survey.

By the end of the first 18 months service delivery activities will be under way and supervision 243.

will evaluate the quality of service delivery including the formation of learning groups, training

materials, subject matter and teaching methods, and establishment of the farmer to farmer

learning networks.

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41

The supervision missions in the first 18 months will be led by an institutional development 244.

specialist and should include an extension specialist, a financial management and procurement

specialist and an M&E specialist. Other technical specialists may be needed to examine

particular aspects of the programme. The supervision team will be supported by the Country

Programme Manager and the in-country IFAD presence.

F. Risk identification and mitigation

The key implementation risks that could prevent full achievement of the programme objectives 245.

are (1) the risk of management failures leading to excessive delays in implementation; (2) the

risk that the policy objectives do not engage sufficient attention and support from the leadership

level in RGC; (3) the risk that reforms could be frustrated by obstruction from lower levels in the

institutions concerned; (4) the risk that the potential benefits of contracting out services will be

undermined by rent-seeking behaviour; (5) the risk that effective staff resources, particularly at

District level, will prove insufficient to fulfil the service delivery targets; (6) the risk that, without

the material incentives provided by previous IFAD projects, farmers will be reluctant to commit

time to training and resources to adoption of new technologies; and (7) the risk that the M&E

and results monitoring arrangements will fail to provide the quality of evidence that is needed to

substantiate policy conclusions.

ASPIRE is a complex and ambitious programme. There is a high level of interdependency 246.

between the components and their outcomes. The management structure is complex: a number

of different agencies (MAFF, GDA, SNEC, NCDDS and MEF) have national management roles

and implementation of investments is largely decentralised to PDAs and District

Administrations. High quality management will be needed at all levels but the establishment of

strong capacity in the Secretariat, from programme start-up onwards, will be essential.

Therefore, IFAD is discussing with RGC options to finance specialist management technical

assistance during project preparation period. A key task of this start-up TA will be to assist the

ASPIRE Secretariat to recruit high quality staff and advisers. Timely recruitment of high quality

staff will be supported by IFAD will discuss with RGC to identify how best to ensure timely

recruitment of high quality staff and advisers to the Secretariat. The engagement of a Financial

Management Specialist during the inception phase will assist in ensuring that both systems and

capacity needed for efficient financial management of the programme are in place.

The risk relating to leadership commitment will be mitigated by IFAD continuing to engage 247.

senior levels in dialogue during the programme preparation and implementation readiness

period. Senior leadership will be directly engaged through the policy process and the initiation

of this process will be an important focus of programme inception stage and the start-up

technical assistance. A major advantage of the involvement of SNEC is the agency’s role and

track record of policy advice to the highest levels of RGC. Intentional frustration of the

programme by lower institutional levels is most likely to occur the reforms introduced by the

programme directly reduce existing scope for patronage and rent-seeking. It is possible that

some human resources management reforms and some assignment of roles and

responsibilities between departments could have this effect. ASPIRE will seek to identify

potential problems in advance, including through open dialogue with stakeholders. ASPIRE will

work through the senior leadership of MAFF and their commitment and management authority

will be key to overcoming resistance, should this arise. The issue of staff performance

incentives is closely related and IFAD will work with MEF and MAFF to identify an approach

that is acceptable both to RGC and to its development partners.

Conversely, the benefits of introducing decentralised contracting-out arrangements as a service 248.

delivery modality could be compromised by rent-seeking in the procurement process.

Procurement will be conducted under the RGC Special Operating Procedures which require a

significant degree of oversight by Ministry of Economy and Finance. It is proposed to use a pre-

qualified list process to ensure that only suitably qualified firms or agencies can be selected as

Kingdom of Cambodia



42

contractors by the PDA. This pre-qualification requirement would be integrated into the

extension service quality assurance system once this becomes effective.

The MAFF staffing profile is top-heavy, with about 38% of all staff and 53% of staff in the higher 249.

grades17

assigned to the national level institutions. DAO are generally under-staffed and the

recruitment system makes it difficult to assign and retain new staff. ASPIRE will require MAFF

and its PDA directors to sustainably improve this situation by assigning adequate numbers of

staff, with clear job descriptions, to DAO before starting implementation of service delivery in a

district. Phasing in at approximately 3 Districts per Province in each of the first two years is

intended to allow sufficient time for this.

ASPIRE will need to overcome expectations of material support to farmers’ input costs, 250.

established by previous IFAD projects18

, and the general problem of competing demands for

farmers’ time. The Smallholder Learning Group approach places emphasis on self-selection of

participants, shorter training modules, improved learning methods and demand-led selection of

training topics. The experience of civil society and private sector (e.g. FBA scheme) extension

models using similar approaches gives confidence that farmers are willing to invest time in

learning given suitable selection of topics and attention to quality of extension services.

Numerous sources of credit are available in rural Cambodia and where necessary the SLG can

become a mechanism for improving farmers’ ability or terms to access this credit or to negotiate

improved terms directly with input sellers.

Previous IFAD projects (before PADEE) have experienced methodological and practical 251.

difficulties in convincingly measuring impacts. This issue is crucial to ASPIRE because

determination of the cost-effectiveness of alternative approaches, in different contexts, is part of

the mechanism of achieving the policy and capacity development objectives of the programme.

ASPIRE will benefit from the improved approach to M&E already implemented in PADEE,

including a professionally conducted major impact survey and the establishment of an MIS.

ASPIRE will use a multi-layered approach to monitoring with the potential for cross-checking of

findings, for example between RCTs, the impact survey, farmer tracking and mobile feedback

“shows.”

IV. Programme costs, financing, benefits and sustainability

A. Programme costs

Total programme costs are around USD 82.2 million over a seven-year implementation period 252.

and include USD 4.1 million of physical and price contingencies. Foreign exchange accounts

for about 10% of total programme costs, with duties and taxes making up approximately

USD 3 million. Funds allocated to the ASPIRE Secretariat are about USD 10.6 million or 13% of

the total Programme costs. Table 3 below summarises the programme costs by component.

17

MAFF Functional Mapping Report, ADB 2011. Figures are for staff in the “agriculture” divisions excluding forests and

fisheries. 18

Or for this purpose by projects funded by other donors.

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43

Table 3: Components Programme Cost Summary

COMPONENT Khmer Riel (billions) USD (millions) %

Foreign Exchange

% Total Base Costs Local Foreign Total Local Foreign Total

Comp 1: Knowledge Based Policy 3.9 8.2 12.1 0.98 2.01 3.02 68% 4%

Comp 2: Capacity Development for Extension Services 16.0 8.8 24.8 4.00 2.21 6.21 36% 8%

Comp 3: Improved Extension Services 152.9 5.4 157.3 37.97 1.35 39.32 3% 50%

Comp 4: Infrastructure Supporting Climate Resilient Agriculture 82.3 1.3 83.6 20.58 0.32 20.90 2% 27%

ASPIRE Secretariat 26.2 8.4 34.6 6.55 2.09 8.64 24% 11%

TOTAL BASELINE COSTS 280.3 32.1 312.4 70.08 8.01 78.09 10% 100%

Physical Contingencies 2.9 1.1 4.0 0.74 0.27 1.01 27% 1%

Price Contingencies 11.4 1.2 12.6 2.85 0.29 3.14 9% 4%

TOTAL PROGRAMME COSTS 294.7 34.3 329.0 73.67 8.58 82.25 10% 105%

B. Programme financing

Table 4 indicates the proposed programme financing in USD by component and financier. The 253.

bulk of the financing is provided by IFAD in the form of a loan (USD 26.1 million) and a grant

(USD 15 million supported by ASAP). Government funding is estimated at USD 11.4 million of

which USD 3 million represents taxes. The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3iE),

supported by a number of development partners and foundations, will provide financing

estimated at USD 932,400 for the Randomized Control Trials to be implemented by IFPRI

under Component 1. USAID will finance selected activities in Component 2.2 estimated to cost

USD 329,423.

The government will co-finance all categories of expenditure including 28% of salaries and 254.

allowances, 10% of equipment and materials, 27% of training, 18% of Grants for Extension

Services to Smallholders, 17% of Grants for Climate Resilient Productive Infrastructure and

100% of salaries of Government staff seconded to the programme.

The following types of contributions in kind have been assumed in the cost tables: (1) estimated 255.

USD 5.8 million beneficiary contribution for extension services under Component 3; (2) Co-

financing of infrastructure by the Commune Councils (2:1 ratio for infrastructure financed by the

PBCR Grants, estimated at USD 7.2 million) and (3) co-financing of 50% of the costs of PPP

activities by the private partners (estimated USD 3 million).

Activities with a total cost of USD 12.36 million are not covered by financing commitments. As 256.

detailed in the Component descriptions, mobilisation of funds to cover these costs are allocated

for geographical expansion of the programme after Mid-Term Review and continued financing

of broadcast extension. There are also two unfunded technical advisor positions identified to

support climate resilient agriculture in Component 2.

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44

Table 4: Components Cost by Financiers (USD millions)

COMPONENT IFAD Loan / Grant Other DP /a Government Other /b Total

Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount %

Comp 1: Knowledge

Based Policy

1.65 49% 0.93 28% 0.80 24% - 0% 3.38 4%

Comp 2: Capacity

Development for

Extension Services

3.55 50% 1.51 21% 2.11 29% - 0% 7.17 9%

Comp 3: Improved

Extension Services

19.97 50% 7.37 18% 3.72 9% 8.80 22% 39.86 48%

Comp 4:

Infrastructure

Supporting Climate

Resilient Agriculture

8.46 40% 3.82 18% 1.71 8% 7.24 34% 21.23 26%

ASPIRE Secretariat 7.50 71% - 0% 3.11 29% - 0% 10.61 13%

TOTAL

PROGRAMME

COSTS

41.13 79% 13.63 1% 11.45 20% 16.04 20% 82.25 100%

a/ Other DP: 3iE 0.93 M, USAID 0.33 M, Unfunded 12.36 M

b/ Other Contributions: Beneficiaries 5.8 M, C/S Fund 7.2 M, private partners 3.0M

C. Summary benefits and economic analysis

The economic analysis of programme costs and benefits is presented in Appendix 10. The 257.

estimated Economic Internal Rate of Return of the programme overall is 15% on the base-case

scenario, with a net present value of USD 6.5 million. Main benefits accrue from the PPP

model, followed by the public extension services, the contracting out model and the climate

resilient infrastructure fund.

A sensitivity analysis assessed the effect of variations in benefits and costs and for various lags 258.

in the realisation of benefits. A fall in total programme benefits by 30% and an increase in total

programme costs by the same proportion would reduce the base IRR to about 10% and 8%,

respectively. The switching value for total programme benefits is about 20%, while for

programme costs it is approximately 15%. A one-year delay in programme benefits reduces the

IRR to 12%. With a two-year delay in programme benefits, the IRR falls to approximately 8%.

The economic analysis considers tangible benefits arising from Components 3.1 (Provincial 259.

Sub-Programmes) and Component 4 (Climate Resilient Infrastructure) only. The policy, capacity

development, innovation and mass media extension components, representing around 16% of

the project costs, will provide additional intangible benefits in the form of sustainable

improvements to national policy, systems, human resources and knowledge supporting

extension, as well as direct benefits to a large number of farmers through mass media. In the

longer term it is expected that a much larger number of farmers in the ASPIRE target group will

benefit from these programme results, although the size of the benefit cannot be estimated.

This point should be considered in interpreting the relatively small though positive net present

value of the project calculated from tangible benefits only.

D. Sustainability

ASPIRE is designed to bring about long-term improvements in policy, capacity and service 260.

delivery in the extension sub-sector and to assist smallholders to achieve sustainably

improvements in the profitability and resilience of their farm businesses. ASPIRE will invest in

building capacity to generate, share and use knowledge at all levels and in strategic human

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45

resources. The objective of ASPIRE is to establish a programme-based approach in the sub-

sector, led by policy and supported by diverse domestic and development partner financing.

At the policy and programme development level, sustainability will be achieved through 261.

engaging the commitment of senior leaders, through demonstrating the effectiveness of the

improved service model and thus ensuring government and development partner support.

Policy is dynamic: the policy documents produced with ASPIRE support will require review and

updating. ASPIRE seeks to improve the policy process both through basing proposals on

evidence and validating policy through inclusive dialogue, both of which features should assist

in ensuring that policy improvements should survive any change in leadership personnel.

ASPIRE will build capacity within the permanent institutions of MAFF and will integrate financial 262.

support to the functions of these institutions with the State Budget through the Programme

Budget mechanism. There is a general problem of under-funding of service activities and civil

servant remuneration within the State budget, as well as specific under-funding of extension,

but there has been a sustained year-on-year improvement in public finances in in particular in

collection of domestic revenues. Therefore it should not be beyond the fiscal capacity of RGC

to sustain the funding of the capacity and service functions established by ASPIRE, while its

willingness to do so will depend on the programme’s ability to demonstrate cost-effective

achievement.

The poverty reduction impact of ASPIRE will be achieved through improving smallholders’ skills 263.

and access to knowledge, with an emphasis on building resilience to climate and other shocks.

These gains are inherently sustainable unless externally-driven changes cause beneficiaries to

abandon smallholder farming. Cambodia is undergoing a process of urbanisation and the

industrial and service sectors are increasingly important for employment, but these changes are

gradual and it is reasonable to expect that the majority of existing farm families with productive

potential will remain on the land for the foreseeable future.

Limited capacity for operation and maintenance of infrastructure is an acknowledged problem in 264.

Cambodia as in other countries. The climate resilient infrastructure component of ASPIRE will

seek to ensure sustainability by requiring sound, appropriate, climate-proofed standards of

construction, by the implementation approach which ensures ownership and co-financing by the

local administrations, and by specific requirements for operation and maintenance

arrangements. The quality of operation and maintenance will be reflected in performance

assessments which will determine access to further financing.

Environmental Sustainability and Compliance with Policies: 265.

(i) The programme’s environmental classification is Category “B” - This Category is

recommended basing it on the potential environmental implications and public health

concerns associated with agricultural intensification and infrastructure development, if not

adequately addressed; and

(ii) The design is fully aligned with both the ENRM Policy and CC Strategy.

Kingdom of Cambodia



Appendix 1: Country and rural context background

1


Country Background and Economy

The Kingdom of Cambodia has a land area of 181,035 km2 and is bordered by Thailand to the 1.

northwest, Laos to the north and by Vietnam to the east and south, with a short coastline on the

Gulf of Thailand to the west. The 2008 Census put the total population at 13.4 million with an

annual rate of increase of around 1.6%: projection based on this growth rate implies a

population of around 14.7 million in 2014. The overall population density is around 83 persons

per square kilometre, although densities are generally higher in the low-lying, agricultural areas

in the south of the country and in the Tonle Sap basin, and much lower in the forested and

upland areas of the north and northwest. About 80% of Cambodians live in areas classified as

“rural” by the National Institute of Statistics19

.

Cambodia was afflicted by almost continuous war and civil conflict from 1970 until the early 2.

1990s, including the traumatic experience of the Democratic Kampuchea (“Khmer Rouge”)

regime from 1975 to 1979. The peace agreement of 1991 and the UN-organised election of

1993 led to re-establishment of a constitutional monarchy with multi-party democratic

institutions of governance. Full peace was established by 1998 and Cambodia has maintained

general political stability since. The results of the national elections in 2013 were disputed and

the opposition party began a boycott of the National Assembly and a programme of civil protest.

A new Government was formed based on the election results and Government institutions

continued to function more or less as normal. The Government has made limited indications of

willingness to embrace reforms but no agreement has been reached. A series of mainly

peaceful political protests and inter-linked labour and land tenure disputes led to civil

disturbances in late 2013 and since early 2014 the right to public protest has been suspended.

Since the 1990s Cambodia has re-integrated itself into the regional and global economies and 3.

made important progress in reconstruction and development. Cambodia adopted economic

policies based on free markets in 1989 and since then has followed a broadly consistent path of

reducing State involvement in the economy and, particularly since 1993, favouring

macroeconomic stability and openness to international trade. The country is currently an active

member of major regional and global economic institutions such as the Association of South-

East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the World Trade Organization (WTO)20.

Annual GDP growth averaged about 10% between 1999 and 2008. Growth fell to zero in 2009 4.

and has since recovered to about 7% per year. Population growth in this period was less than

2% per year, implying substantial increases in GDP per capita21

. Growth has been driven

mainly by the garment, tourism and construction sectors which have also been the most

significant sources of non-farm employment.

Despite the growth of an important manufacturing sector since the late 1990s and the 5.

increasing importance of services, agriculture was responsible for about 34% of Cambodia’s

GDP in 201022

. It is estimated that over 70% of the Cambodian workforce is fully or partly

employed in agriculture23

.

Overall bank intermediation as measured by credit to the economy is still low in Cambodia 6.

relative to most countries in Asia. World Bank estimated the proportion of Cambodians with

19

Data from the 2008 Census. Rural areas are defined essentially as communes with less than 200 persons per square

kilometre. 20

Cambodia became member of ASEAN and WTO in 1999 and 2004, respectively. 21

World Bank data 22

Statistical Yearbook 2011 23

http://www.tradingeconomics.com, quoting World Bank data

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/

Kingdom of Cambodia




2

bank accounts as only 3.7%24

although banking sector commentators criticized this figure as an

under-estimate. The same report states the level of bank credit as 25.4% of GDP. The

Cambodian Microfinance Association reports total microfinance loans outstanding as just over

$US 1 billion (including microfinance loans of ACLEDA bank); this represents about 7% of GDP.

This shows the relative importance of the microfinance sector in the economy and in relation to

the commercial banking sector. Other commercial banks (excluding ACLEDA) have almost no

presence in rural areas which are served mainly by micro-finance institutions.

The banking system was able to survive the financial crisis of 2008-09 which resulted in a 7.

collapse of the real estate market in 2009. The ratio of non-performing loans in the banking

sector declined from 3.05% in 2010 to 2.43% in 201125

(although IMF has suggested these

figures may be underestimates). Still the current economic recovery is providing a good

opportunity for banks to improve their balance sheets and reduce vulnerabilities.

Government finances remain heavily dependent on external assistance, with 34% of all 8.

Government expenditures and about 80% of public investment financed by grants and loans in

201226.

Domestic revenue collection expanded 24.7% in 2012, mainly through improved

collection, but revenue growth appears to have slowed sharply, to less than 10% year on year,

in the first half of 201327

. Exploitation of oil and gas reserves could improve the government’s

fiscal position but the move from discovery of viable reserves to production has been slow.

The labour force grew much faster than the population growth rate in the period up to 2010, as 9.

young people who were born during the baby boom years entered the labour force. World Bank

data shows labour force growth slowing to about 2% annually by 201228, although the median

age of the population at the time of the 2008 Census was 2129

.

Agriculture and Natural Resources Sector

Despite growth in other sectors, agriculture still represents the largest source of employment in 10.

Cambodia and the recent economic crisis has highlighted the importance of the sector as a

source of growth. While growth in other sectors has absorbed a significant amount of rural

labour over the last ten years, the 2008 Census identified 72% of the labour force as employed

in agriculture, forestry and fishing (due to many farmers having multiple occupations this figure

probably exaggerates the true share of employment in this sector). In addition, agriculture

currently makes up about 34%30

of total GDP (compared to slightly more than half of the

country’s GDP in 1990). The sector expanded at an annual rate of 4.4% over the 1998 to 2008

period, driven by increases in productivity and in cropped area: this is a high growth rate when

compared to other East Asian and Pacific countries. Most importantly, the sector continued

expanding during the crisis with agricultural GDP registering an estimated 5.4% growth in 2009

and 4.0% in 2010.

The total area of cropland in Cambodia is about 25,000 square kilometres, or 14% of the total 11.

land area. About 60% of the land area is classified as forest. Rice is the dominant crop in

Cambodia. It represents about 25% of Cambodia’s agriculture GDP and about half of all

agricultural crops’ value added. It is grown on 83% of cultivated land by some 80% of farmers.

Wet rice cultivation is concentrated in the low-lying provinces of the southern part of the country

and the Tonle Sap basin, while the higher areas in the north and northwest are dominated by

forest, plantation and upland crops. Livestock production, while important, is mainly by

smallholders as an additional activity to rice growing.

24

World Bank Global Financial Development Report 2014 25

National Bank of Cambodia Annual Report 2011 26

World Bank, Cambodia Economic Update 2013 27

ibid 28

World Bank World Development Indicators 29

Census 2008 30

Statistical Yearbook 2011

Kingdom of Cambodia




3

Timber production and freshwater fisheries are major commercial activities in Cambodia. 12.

Although the forestry sector has been subject to a moratorium on logging for most purposes

since 2002, in practice a considerable amount of production continues. Traditionally rural

Cambodians harvest a wide range of natural products for processing, sale or domestic use.

Although many of these products are of declining importance, most Cambodian rural

households continue to rely on firewood for cooking fuel and catches of wild fish and small

aquatic creatures make an important contribution to their diet.

The country has achieved an annual rice-surplus since 1995, with total rice production growing 13.

at an impressive annual growth rate of 6.6% between 2005 and 2010, well above population

growth rates. Production has increased both through area expansion (harvested paddy area

grew annually at 2.8 per cent) and productivity improvements (paddy yields have grown at a

compound annual growth rate of 3.7% in the period). Increasing domestic surpluses have led to

robust growth of rice exports, both formal and informal with a total of over 3 million tonnes of

paddy available for export. Most (perhaps 90%) of this surplus is exported as paddy, mainly to

Vietnam. Exports of milled rice grew from 53,000 tonnes in 2010 to 202,000 tonnes in 2011, but

increased only slightly to 206,000 tonnes in 2012. Exports of rice (at around US$ 700 million)

account for around 15% of total country’s exports which are dominated by garments (around

70% of total exports).

Despite the large reliance on rice, the agricultural sector has seen some diversification over the 14.

last decade. Among non-rice crops, production of maize, cassava and soya beans has seen the

most rapid growth (above 20% annual growth in value added since 2002), partly due to

increasing demand from the livestock sector. Other crops for which production surged during

the last decade include tobacco, peanuts, and sesame, mostly through area expansion. Rubber

and fish represent more than USD 250 million in annual exports, despite more modest growth

over the last decade.

Cambodia’s agriculture sector has high potential to contribute to economic growth and exports. 15.

The country is endowed with a good climate, and large land and surface water resource base.

In particular, Cambodia has the opportunity to become an important agricultural exporter in the

region, especially in rice where it is competitive vis-à-vis its neighbours and given overall

positive prospects for world rice markets. There is potential for both increasing paddy

production and also incorporating more value addition in country through processing. Average

yields have increased dramatically but remain, at about 2.95 t/ha, well below yields in

neighbouring countries such as Vietnam (4.9 t/ha). The average figure conceals an emerging

duality between high-input, high yield rice farming, mainly in the dry season and in the southern

provinces, where yields of 4t/ha to 5t/ha are expected, and low-input, low-yield rain-fed rice

farming still practiced by the majority of Cambodian rice farmers.

The land ownership system in rice-farming areas of Cambodia results from the distribution of 16.

collectivised land to households in the late 1980s and developments since that time. Population

growth has increased pressure on land while sales forced by poverty, debt or domestic

emergencies, and in some cases expropriation of land, have resulted in smaller average plot

sizes and increased inequality in land distribution. A 2005 survey found that 80% of holdings

were less than 2 hectares; however holdings over 2 hectares accounted for 50% of all land.

About 37% were less than 0.5 hectare and thus probably too small to provide for household

consumption31

. Land ownership is governed by the Land Law of 2001 and despite a significant

land titling effort most agricultural land is still not covered by formal land titles. Land holdings

under informal titles are fairly secure in traditional rice growing areas, but land ownership

disputes have become common in former forest land and also in high-value urban areas. Large

areas of the forest estate have been awarded to commercial interests as concessions, often

with accompanying criticism from civil society organizations (mainly on account of lack of

transparency, failure to respect the rights of existing land users, weak control over the uses

31

Data from ABiC 2005

Kingdom of Cambodia




4

made of concession land and low productivity). The Government has also introduced a social

land concession program aimed at distributing vacant land to the rural poor, although so far this

is on a much smaller scale than the economic land concessions. In 2012 and 2013 the

Government made a concerted effort to resolve outstanding land ownership disputes,

particularly in forest and economic land concession areas, through a campaign of land

surveying by student volunteers under the personal direction of the Prime Minister. It is said

that 660,000 plots were surveyed 380,000 new titles issued32

under this scheme, however the

long term effectiveness of the programme in ending land disputes is uncertain.

Cambodia’s total water resources are very large, consisting of average annual rainfall of 17.

1000mm to 1500mm in most areas and cross-border flows of river and groundwater. However

effective water availability for agriculture is highly seasonal and often unpredictable. About 90%

of all rain falls between May and October. Cambodia’s irrigation infrastructure is largely a

legacy of schemes constructed by mass mobilisation of labour in the late 1970s: these

schemes were characterised by unrealistic ambitions and by very poor standards of design and

construction. Most investment in irrigation since 1980 has gone into rehabilitating and

improving the more promising parts of these “Khmer Rouge” systems: this is often the easiest

course as it avoids land acquisition issues, although better technical solutions might be

available. In 2006, only about 17% of the rice crop was fully irrigated, with the remainder being

fully or partially dependent on rainfall33

. In most areas only one crop is grown per year, either a

rain-fed wet season crop or in areas subject to annual inundation, a recession crop, with some

supplementary irrigation used for both types. In recent years the Government has invested

heavily in irrigation improvements, with most expenditure on headworks and main canals and

rather less emphasis on distribution systems and maintenance.

Cambodia is vulnerable to climate variability and change, and has experienced an increasing 18.

number of natural disasters over the last several decades. Over the period 1980 – 2010 over

16 million people have been affected by floods (60%) and drought (40%) with estimated

economic damages of US$538 million. Current climate variability as experienced by local

communities include late onset of monsoon rains, mid-monsoonal drought accompanied with

temperature spikes, and late season floods followed by a cold spell. Climate change predictions

indicate an increase in temperature between 0.7-2.7°C by 2060 and increase in average annual

rainfall by about 30%. With regard to the latter, paradoxically low water availability is anticipated

as rainfall is expected to come in fewer incidences of high intensity rain leading to large scale

runoff, and with a shorter rainy season and a longer dry season. According to recent analysis

wet season flows could increase by as much as 41% in the Mekong basin and by 19% in the

delta area. In contrast, dry season flows could decrease by 24% in the basin and 29% in the

delta. Climatic variations are expected to increase the severity and frequency of flood and

drought events. Changes in flows and seasonality could also have adverse impacts on

sensitive and economically productive wetlands such as Tonle Sap. The impacts on agriculture

and fisheries are likely to be dramatic. Finally, it is expected that climate change will increase

the incidence of infectious, water-borne and vector-borne diseases, heat stress and mortality,

with significant impact on public health costs. Under these scenarios agricultural production in

many areas will be further constrained coupled with existing poor soil fertility and low water

availability.

Policies and Development Plans

The overall objectives of the Royal Government of Cambodia are expressed in the 19.

“Rectangular Strategy for Growth, Employment, Equity and Efficiency” first adopted in 2005 and

updated in 2013. The Rectangular Strategy is based on development in four key areas:

agriculture, infrastructure, the private sector and capacity building and human resources

development, while good governance is placed at the core of the strategy.

32

Cambodia Daily, 21st November 2013

33 FAO data.

Kingdom of Cambodia




5

The National Strategic Development Plan elaborates the principles of the Rectangular Strategy. 20.

The NSDP was adopted in 2006 and is currently being updated for the period 2014 to 2018.

The NSDP commits Cambodia to achievement of its Millennium Development Goals and sets

ambitious targets for expansion of agricultural production and exports, including achieving

average rice yields of 3.25 tonnes per hectare by 201834

and increasing surplus paddy

production to 6 million tonnes per year, and raising average value added per hectare (all crops)

from US$997/ha in 2007 to US$1,450/ha by 2018.

The Policy on Rice Production and Export policy recognizes the strategic importance of rice 21.

production to Cambodia’s economy. The policy lists a number of measures and related

investment priorities, and identifies responsible institutions for implementation, to promote rice

production and exports. It identifies the potential of milled rice to improve the balance of

Cambodia’s exports, which are heavily dependent on the garment industry at present. The

policy promotes a value chain approach combining increases in productivity with investments in

processing and exploitation of niche markets, for example for organic rice. The policy targets

exports of 1 million tonnes of milled rice by 2015.

Cambodia has engaged in progressive piloting and implementation of decentralisation reforms 22.

since 1996, with a key achievement being the establishment of directly elected Commune

Councils as the lowest tier of government in 2002. The Strategic Framework for

Decentralisation and Deconcentration Reforms (2005) established a vision for integrated

administrations at Provincial and District Level. An Organic Law (2008) established the basis for

indirect elections of Provincial and District Councils which took place in 2009. The Government

is implementing a 10-year National Program for Sub-National Democratic Development under

the leadership of NCDD35

, with the second three-year implementation phase expected to begin

in 2015. The draft NSDP 2014-2018 establishes transfer of functions, strengthened own-source

revenue collection, decentralising staff management and improving vertical and horizontal

accountabilities as priorities.

The Cambodia Climate Change Strategic Plan (CCCSP) outlines the government’s vision for 23.

promoting climate-resilient development and green growth in the period 2014-23. During its first

phase the strategy will focus on adaptation activities aimed at strengthening community

resilience. All climate-related issues, including a climate change financing framework, will be

gradually integrated into development strategy and planning at all levels – national and sub-

national – as a matter of priority.

Cambodia has a system of bottom-up, participatory planning based on the five-year Commune 24.

Development Plans and annual Commune Investment Programs. Priorities identified in local

planning are adopted into sector and agency programs through annual District Integration

Workshops. Under the D&D reforms, new guidelines for District and Provincial planning were

adopted in 2011.

Constraints and Opportunities

There is strong potential for continued growth in rice exports and production diversification, but 25.

the sector needs to address several key challenges. While there are few policy-induced

distortions which affect the sector, there are a number of factors that lead to low private returns

on investments in agriculture such as inadequate knowledge and/or use of efficient production

and post-harvest techniques and inefficient provision of key complementary production factors

such as irrigation and transport infrastructure (both roads and port facilities) and energy (both

for irrigation and processing facilities). In addition, tenure insecurity and formal and informal

costs on trade lead to high risks and therefore lower probability of the current or potential

returns to investments in the sector. Finally lack of access and high costs of finance contribute

to sub-optimal investments both at the farm and processing stages of agriculture in Cambodia.

34

From 2.58t/ha in 2008 35

National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development, which has its secretariat in the Ministry of the Interior

Kingdom of Cambodia




6

Addressing all these constraints is beyond the scope of a single programme and some are 26.

already receiving much attention from Government and donors. Examples include facilitating

access to finance for agri-business development (proposed IDA-IFC Agribusiness SME Access

to Finance Project), supporting land titling (conducted by Government but formerly supported

by the Finnish, Canadian and German Governments and by the IDA co-financed LMAP project)

and rehabilitation of port facilities which is being carried out with JICA assistance. A number of

projects, notably the Australian-funded CAVAC and the US-funded HARVEST, support

agricultural value chains and this will also be the focus of the next IFAD pipeline project, AIMS36

and also of an upcoming initiative of ADB. More specifically, analysis of binding constraints to

improving productivity of smallholder rice-based systems identified the following key

constraints:

Access to finance. The Cambodian microfinance industry has been able to attract 27.

considerable investment from overseas both in the form of loans as well as in the form of equity

from socially responsible investors and international development finance institutions.

Cambodia Microfinance Association reports total loans outstanding of $US 1.5 million and

number of borrowers as 1.6 million37

, representing roughly 40% of all Cambodian households

(though in fact some households are likely to have more than one outstanding loan). The

growth of the industry has created economies of scale and increased competition. As a result

interest rates have come down, reflected by the average (un-weighted) portfolio yield declining

from 35% in 2006 to 30% per annum in 2010 for 13 MFIs for which this information was

available for the four year period (the average annual interest rate stood at 42% in 2003).

Competition has also encouraged the introduction of new products including loans that are

appropriate to finance inputs for seasonal crops, something that used to be a weakness in the

past. A number of microfinance institutions including AMK and PRASAC attempt to reach the

poor by offering loans backed by a mutual guarantee group instead of requiring collateral which

is typically in the form of a land title.

Despite the impressive growth and dynamism of the industry, poor smallholders still lack access 28.

to adequate financial services. There is still a very active informal market in which shopkeepers,

traders and moneylenders provide credit in the form of cash or supplies. Typically, rural

Cambodians appreciate the speed and flexibility of these informal arrangements, the lack of

need for collateral and the re-negotiability of loan conditions, as compared with the formal

microcredit sector, but such relationships come at the cost of high nominal interest rates or

obligations to sell produce or provide labour at a large discount in repayment. The ability of

poor households to link with formal financial institutions also results from lack of collateral,

interpersonal communication skills, illiteracy, poor financial literacy and knowledge about

existing opportunities and a minimum asset base.

Inefficient production techniques. Given the predominance of low quality soils in the lowland 29.

rice areas, yields are highly dependent on adequate amounts of fertilizer being used, which

poor farmers cannot always afford. In addition, improved production and pest management

techniques are still not well-known in many areas of the country. In this regard the experiences

of APIP and in particular the national Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program show there is

substantial productivity gains that can be achieved from improved practices (reviews comparing

treatment and control groups indicate ability to increase average yields for wet and dry season

between 25 and 50%38

). Moreover, pesticide usage can be lowered and overall household

income increased (under IPM program it was estimated around 18% average increase in

income comparing treatment and control groups)8. Finally, it is estimated that less than 4% of

farmers in Cambodia actually use quality seed although use of third generation or commercial

36

See RB-COSOP 2013-2018 37

CMA website, 15/08/14 38

For more details see Kamp “Impacts from the Cambodian National IPM Program 2000-2007 – A

Synthesis of Assessments and Case Studies”, 2007, Danida

Kingdom of Cambodia




7

seed of a rice variety can increase yields by a minimum of 10-15% when combined with good

agricultural practices.

High post-harvest losses and inefficient marketing practices. Post-harvest losses can 30.

account for up to 15-20% of the total paddy production in Cambodia. The main reasons for this

are shortage of adequate local storage facilities, drying in sunshine which cause inconsistent

moisture content, and packaging in poly-weave bags. While cross-border trade in paddy seems

to be quite efficient (trader gross and net margins do not exceed 10% and 5% respectively and

Cambodia farm gate prices closely mirror FOB prices in Vietnam deducted of transportation

costs39

), lack of working capital is still a constraint, particularly for smallholders, leading them to

sell paddy immediately after harvest. Moreover, in the case of vegetables, grading and

adequate post-harvest practices can substantially increase farmer revenue (around 20 to 25%

on average) as suggested by the experience of CAMIP’s Farmer Marketing Schools.

Lack of efficient productive rural infrastructure. Poor water management is constraining 31.

crop intensification and also restricting productivity. Only about 15% of the cultivated rice area

in Cambodia is irrigated versus 28% in Thailand and 33% in Vietnam. Efficient irrigation

services combined with technical advice and appropriate inputs allow farmers to obtain

substantially higher yields (with estimates varying between 0.5 Mt and 1.0 Mt per hectare)

besides greater cropping intensity, and productivity improvements result in substantial

increases in land value40

. Poor state of rural road connections contributes to the high marketing

cost of agricultural produce in Cambodia. The cost of transporting one ton of rice within

Cambodia is about US$ 15/Mt per 100 km, compared to US$ 7.5/Mt in Vietnam and US$ 4/Mt

in Thailand. The recent agriculture public expenditure review carried out by the Bank highlights

that rural roads have been one of the most effective forms of public expenditure in rural areas.

The analysis shows that BCR for rural roads has increased from 1.6 to 4.1 between 2000 to

2009. Despite major improvements over the past decade, Cambodia still suffers from poor

transport infrastructure in rural areas.

Vulnerability to Shocks. Although Cambodia has made great progress in reducing the 32.

proportion of the population living in poverty from over 50% in the early 1990s to around 20%

today, many rural smallholders have incomes only just above poverty levels and few assets or

other resources to support them in cases of shocks which may result from climate events (see

below), market fluctuations, crop failures, ill health or other causes. Financial stress due to any

of these causes may result in a household selling its agricultural land or abandoning farming in

favour of migrating to find work. Although rural to urban migration and diversification of

employment away from agriculture are inevitable and desirable effects of overall economic

growth; improvements in agriculture technology and output can only occur if farmers have

sufficient security and stability of income to encourage them to plan and invest for the future.

Thus, measures to develop resilience at the farm, household and community level, which may

include changes to agriculture practice, availability of insurance and other measures, are an

important part of an integrated approach to developing efficient, market-linked smallholder

agriculture.

Climate Threats. Many of the most populous and agriculturally productive areas of Cambodia 33.

lie within the floodplain of the Mekong River system. Annual flooding is expected and indeed

necessary for the agricultural cycle, but extreme or unusual flood events are also a frequent

cause of loss of human life, destruction of property and damage to agriculture production.

Droughts are also a familiar threat. Global climate change is expected to accentuate these risks

39

Data on trader and farm gate prices collected by ACI cross-border survey (July 2010). Comparison of annual average

paddy farm gate prices in Cambodia with FOB prices in Thailand indicate that Cambodia farmers receive more than

50% of international prices (above 60% when accounting for a 75% quality adjustment factor to Thai 5% broken rice). 40

Himel J, Suon V, and Prak S “Supplementary Socio-Economic Survey. Flood Control and Irrigation Component Flood

Emergency Project”, 2005. The study is based on ADB-supported irrigation schemes. Also Van Kampfen “Technical

Audit of Commune-Sangkat Fund Infrastructure Projects”, 2010 estimates yield increases of 1.0Mt per hectare from

rehabilitation of canal schemes providing supplementary wet season irrigation.

Kingdom of Cambodia




8

by resulting in shorter and more intense wet seasons and a greater frequency of extreme

events, and increased average temperatures may also impact on crop production and increase

incidence of sickness in humans and animals. The diversity of topography favours some areas

while increasing the vulnerability of others. This highlights the need for a more differentiated

agricultural extension service that capitalises on the production potential of the favoured areas

and mitigates the vulnerability of livelihoods in the risk prone areas.

The Government’s ability to deal with these constraints is challenged by its limited revenue and 34.

multiple national development priorities as well as entrenched institutional centralisation. The

Government has to depend on official development assistance (ODA) for one-third of public

spending and over 80% of public investment. Over 50% of public spending on agriculture,

amounting to about $US 50 million, was ODA-funded in 2009. This represents about 5% of total

ODA. Proportionally, investment in the two sectors combined is very static. Cambodia’s public

spending on agriculture, rural roads and irrigation represents about 1.5% of GDP or about 4%

of agriculture GDP. Of 11 countries for which the World Bank PER provides comparative data,

only Bangladesh and Indonesia spend less than Cambodia as a proportion of agriculture

GDP41

.

41

World Bank Public Expenditure Review of Agriculture, Irrigation and Rural Roads, 2011. NB that the draft PER states

expenditure as 2.9% of agriculture GDP but this figure is clearly inconsistent with the figure of 1.5% of total GDP.

Kingdom of Cambodia




9

Appendix – Country data sheet

Land area (km2 thousand) 2012 1/ 177 GNI per capita (USD) 2012 1/ 880

Total population (million) 2012 1/ 14.85 GDP per capita growth (annual %) 2012 1/ 4.3

Population density (people per km2) 2012 1/ 83 Inflation, consumer prices (annual %) 2012 1/ 2.9

Local currency: Cambodian Riel (KHR) Exchange rate: USD 1 = KHR 4,100

Social Indicators Economic Indicators

Population growth (annual %) 2012 1/ 1.6 GDP (USD million) 2012 1/ 14 038

Crude birth rate (per thousand people) 2012 1/ 26 GDP growth (annual %) 1/

Crude death rate (per thousand people) 2012 1/ 6 2010 6.0

Infant mortality rate (per thousand live births) 2012 1/ 37 2011 7.1

Life expectancy at birth (years) 2012 1/ 71 2012 7.3

Sectoral distribution of GDP 2012 1/

Total labour force (million) 2012 1/ 8.43 % agriculture 36

Female labour force as % of total 2012 1/ 50 % industry 24

% manufacturing 16

Education % services 40

School enrolment, primary (% gross) 2007 1/ 125

Adult illiteracy rate (% age 15 and above) 2012 1/ 26 Consumption 2012 1/

General government final consumption expenditure (as

% of GDP)

n/a

Nutrition

Household final consumption expenditure, etc. (as %

of GDP)

n/a

Daily calorie supply per capita n/a Gross domestic savings (as % of GDP) n/a

Malnutrition prevalence, height for age (% of children

under 5) 2012 1/

41

Malnutrition prevalence, weight for age (% of children

under 5) 2012 1/

26

Balance of Payments (USD million)

Merchandise exports 2012 1/ 6 950

Health Merchandise imports 2012 1/ 9 300

Health expenditure, total (as % of GDP) 2012 1/ 5.7 Balance of merchandise trade -2 350

Physicians (per thousand people) 1/ n/a

Population using improved water sources (%) 2012 1/ 67 Current account balances (USD million)

Population using adequate sanitation facilities (%) 2012 1/ 33 before official transfers 2008 1/ -1 675

after official transfers 2008 1/ -1 053

Agriculture and Food Foreign direct investment, net 2012 1/ 1 526

Food imports (% of merchandise imports) 2012 1/ n/a

Fertilizer consumption (hundreds of grams per ha of

arable land) 2012 1/

115

Government Finance

Food production index (2004-6=100) 2012 1/ 155 Cash surplus/deficit (as % of GDP) 2012 1/ -4.2

Cereal yield (kg per ha) 2012 1/ 2 942 Total expense (% of GDP) a/ 2012 1/ 10.8

Present value of external debt (as % of GNI) 2012 1/ 26.1

Land Use Total debt service (% of GNI) 2012 1/ 1

Arable land as % of land area 2007 1/ 23

Forest area as % of total land area 2007 1/ 56 Lending interest rate (%) 2012 1/ n/a

Agricultural irrigated land as % of total agric. land 2007

1/

n/a

Deposit interest rate (%) 2012 1/ 1.33

a/ Indicator replaces "Total expenditure" used previously.

1/ World Bank, World Development Indicators database 2013

Kingdom of Cambodia



Appendix 2: Poverty, targeting and gender

11


Country Context of Rural Poverty42

Poverty in Cambodia continues a downward trend. According to the data of Cambodia Socio-1.

Economic Survey (CSES), a nationally representative household survey, the poverty rate in

2011 is estimated at 20.5% compared to 53% in 200443

. The share of households below the

food poverty line has decreased from 16% to 3.8% during the same period. With the majority of

population being rural (about 80%), this substantial decline of overall poverty is a reflection of

drastic reduction of rural poverty: poverty incidence in rural areas declined from 59% in 2004 to

24% in 2011 and food poverty was reduced from 18% to 4.4% in the same period. Rural

poverty rate using the CSES data more or less corresponds with the IDPoor data44

, according

to which about 27.1% of rural population are poor in the 2010-2011 period45

.

Despite the encouraging trend in poverty reduction, about 2.8 million people are still poor, 90% 2.

of whom (about 2.5 million) live in rural areas. Furthermore, the majority of those who escaped

poverty did so by only a small margin and remain vulnerable: a small shock of 1200 riel ($0.30)

per day in 2011 would have caused the poverty rate to double46

. Rural poverty reduction

remains a key challenge and a priority of the government as highlighted in its Rectangular

Strategy for Growth, Employment, Equity and Efficiency. The Rectangular Strategy, adopted in

2005 and periodically updated (2009 and 2013), is an overarching strategy for country

development and poverty reduction with four key focus areas, including promotion of agriculture

sector.

Characteristics of the Poor. According to the COSOP poverty analysis, the poor households 3.

are characterised with fewer adult earners and higher proportions of dependants, limited

income sources, and smaller agricultural landholdings. The poor's access to formal credit is

limited, and their knowledge about farming technology and market demand remains

underdeveloped. Due to underdeveloped extension services in the country, the poor’s access to

technologies and market information is limited except where external supports are provided.

While income from non-farm self-employment and wages is becoming increasingly important in

the rural areas, the poor still relies on a largest share of their household income from

agriculture. According to a recent study, the agricultural income share of the lowest quintile was

44% in 2004 while that of non-farm self-employment only accounted for 5%47

. This pattern of

higher shares of agriculture income in lower income quintiles has remained consistent over

2004-2012, according to the study.

Gender dimension of poverty. The same study found that female-headed households in rural 4.

areas had lower income per capita than male-headed ones. The income of female-headed

households fluctuates more sharply, indicating a higher degree of vulnerability for female-

headed households. The share of salaries and wages in female-headed households' income is

higher than those of other sources, including agriculture, but the types of jobs that poor women

are employed are generally low paying.

42

In-depth poverty analysis was undertaken during the COSOP formulation process. The content of this section draws

on the COSOP poverty analysis. 43

World Bank 2013: Where Have All the Poor Gone? Cambodia Poverty Assessment 2013 44

IDPoor (The Identification of Poor Households) is an official programme to identify the poor through standardized

national procedures and data collection method. The programme was established in 2006 within the Ministry of

Planning. A standardized household questionnaire is used for data collection, which includes asset ownership, food

security and other factors related to vulnerability. With the issuance of Sub‐decree No. 291 in 2011, the government

declared that the IDPoor data be used for provision of services and assistance to poor families under poverty reduction

interventions of the government and non-governmental agencies. 45

Based on the IDPoor Rounds 4 and 5 (2010-2011) data from 20 provinces. 46

World Bank 2013: Where Have All the Poor Gone? Cambodia Poverty Assessment 2013 47

Tong Kimsun et al, Levels and Sources of Household Income in Rural Cambodia 2012, CDRI, August 2013.

Kingdom of Cambodia




12

Vulnerability. Smallholders are vulnerable to crop failures, deaths of animals, illness among 5.

household members, and fluctuating food prices. Crop failures are caused by natural disasters,

such as flood and drought, as well as diseases and pests. Rice, which is the most important

crop, is frequently affected by floods and droughts across the country including major rice-

producing areas, such as Prey Veng, Takeo, Kompong Cham and Kompong Thom. Rainfed

agriculture becomes riskier due to climate change which is believed to cause more extreme

weather conditions. While such shocks could inflict serious damages to the livelihoods of any

farming families, the poor ones who have limited assets and are often already indebted have

limited means to cope with and reinstate their former livelihoods. They are often forced to sell

land and whatever other assets they possess. Without productive assets and skills for

alternative employment, they have no choice but to work as agricultural labourers, often

becoming trapped in chronic poverty. Such downward slope into destitute may not spare those

households just above the poverty line especially if they are faced with repeated shocks.

In view of the prevailing situation of poverty and vulnerability in rural areas, the current COSOP 6.

proposed the following strategic objectives which are reflected and embodied in the ASPIRE

design: (1) poor smallholders are enabled to take advantage of market opportunities; (2) poor

rural households and communities increase resilience to climate change and other shocks; and

(3) poor rural households gain better access to strengthened rural service delivery by

government, civil society and private-sector agencies.

Target Groups

ASPIRE target are defined as smallholders and poor farmers with productive potential who can 7.

take advantage of market opportunities. These farmers are mostly 'production-driven', meaning

that their decisions on farming and choice of crops are primarily informed by their existing

knowledge on production. They lack good understanding of the market or returns of their

farming activities that would result from different crop choices or technology options. These

smallholders will include farmers officially classified as poor according to the IDPoor

methodology as well as somewhat better-off smallholders who are vulnerable to natural

disasters, market risks, healthcare costs and other types of shocks and likely to fall into poverty

at unfortunate turns of events. The participation of less poor smallholders is also important from

the knowledge dissemination point of view as this type of farmers are better situated to try and

demonstrate new technologies to the effect that poorer and more risk averse farmers can

observe the results and adopt.

Direct beneficiaries. The direct target group of ASPIRE will be around 179,000 poor and 8.

vulnerable smallholder households (approximately 841,300 persons). This includes about

144,000 households (676,800 persons) participating in extension activities in selected

provinces under Provincial Sub-Programmes (Component 3). It is envisaged that about

70,000 smallholder households (329,000 persons) will directly benefit from investments in

climate resilient infrastructure (Component 4) with about half of these households also

benefitting from Component 3, giving the combined total outreach target of

179,000 households.

These beneficiary households are from three sets of provinces: the first set comprises five pre-9.

selected provinces where Provincial Sub-Programmes will be piloted under ASPIRE during the

first phase of its implementation. The second set are pre-identified expansion Provinces,

consisting of the five provinces of the ongoing PADEE project. The third set of three Provinces

will be chosen to be included from the third phase (after Mid-Term Review), subject to

mobilisation of additional financing, when Provincial Sub-Programmes are rolled out under a

fully programme-based national extension programme.

Indirect beneficiaries. ASPIRE's support to extension policy formulation, strengthening of a 10.

national extension programme and capacity building (Components 1 and 2) will have far-

reaching and long-term positive effects in the whole agriculture sector of the country outside the

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13

above-mentioned direct beneficiaries. A robust and evidence-based national programme on

agricultural extension with clearly defined institutional responsibilities, stakeholders with

enhanced capacities and available operational tools (such as extension hub and portal) will

leverage the supports other development partners, the private sector operators and actors in

the civil society, and facilitate their support to small farmers.

Targeting Strategy

The targeting strategy of ASPIRE departs from the conventional approach of selecting 11.

beneficiaries against pre-set criteria who will receive the predetermined assistance. On contrary

it aims to enable a new national extension programme to be responsive to farmers’ needs and

demands, including those of the poor and the vulnerable, using a combination of tools based on

the systematic approach to information analysis, formulation of actionable plans effectively

addressing the their needs and inclusion of farmer representatives in the key decision making

processes.

Specific design instruments and processes are proposed to help determine the main feature of 12.

the inclusive and demand-informed national extension policy: support to the extension policy

formulation process is guided by an Extension and Research Advisory Board which includes

farmer representatives and civil society organizations; and facilitation of extension policy

discussions will address needs and demands of different groups of smallholders, including the

poor and the vulnerable. Similarly the proposed provincial strategy formulation process which

will inform Provincial Sub-Programmes will take into consideration farmers’ needs and

demands, articulates delivery of public sector support prioritizing the poor and the vulnerable,

and includes validation by stakeholders (‘Inclusive Extension Advisory Group’), including farmer

representatives. Identification of the poor and vulnerable farmers’ needs and demands, as well

as assessment of how extension impacts on their livelihoods, will be undertaken systematically

at the Extension Hub, which will be the platform for extension content development, quality

control and dissemination. This will allow the MAFF and PDAs/DOAs to plan extension services

which are responsive to the poor and vulnerable smallholders and allocate resources optimally.

Provincial Sub-Programme Beneficiary Selection

ASPIRE’s direct beneficiaries (see above) are those who will access extension services to be 13.

delivered under Provincial Sub-Programme using the three comparative models (public sector

service delivery, public private partnerships and contracting-out of services). Outreach to the

poor and the vulnerable under the public sector service model will be facilitated through

extension programme development which will focus on basic farming skills mostly attractive to

them. It is envisaged that 60 25-member Smallholder Learning Groups (SLGs) will be formed in

each of the six districts of the selected provinces. Because of the financing arrangements and

in view of the business sustainability, the public private partnership model may have tendency

to include less-poor smallholders. However, the experience of iDE in their social enterprise

driven model of extension is that about 50% of the self-selecting clients are from households

with ID-Poor cards48

.

Provincial Sub-Programmes will include activities contracted out to specialist service providers 14.

(most likely NGOs). The most beneficial use of these contracting out arrangements will be

identified at Provincial level through the Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan (PASP). However,

one likely use of contracting out will be to target specific groups of farmers with special needs.

One example of a special needs group could be farm households living in Social Land

Concession (SLC) as support for agricultural development is important in view of their current

weak skill and knowledge basis on farm business and management, as well as needs to

48

Source: discussions with iDE management

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14

integrate it with other types of supports49

. Strengthening farming skills of new land recipient

households is critical as failures to do so could undermine their whole new livelihoods.

Selection of provinces: ASPIRE will be implemented as a national level programme with, 15.

initially, five pilot Provincial sub-programmes. The selection of the initial pilot provinces was

done by the RGC based on criteria identified during the design mission. These criteria included:

(a) Provinces with significant potential for increasing agriculture GDP;

(b) Provinces where the Provincial Department of Agriculture has a good existing potential

and high willingness to operate results-based programming arrangements; and

(c) Provinces where PDA are in a position to deploy sufficient staff resources in

implementation of ASPIRE funded activities; i.e. staff will not be occupied in

implementation of existing major externally funded projects50

.

Provinces with previous experience with IFAD projects were considered positively in view of 16.

their experience in providing demand-driven agricultural services to poor smallholders, as well

as advantages of building on institutional and human resources foundations which were

facilitated by the projects.

Based on these criteria, RGC proposed and IFAD has agreed to select Kratie, Preah Vihear, 17.

Battambang, Pursat and Kampong Chhnang as pilot provinces. Subject to satisfactory

progress, ASPIRE will expand into Kampot, Kandal, Prey Veng, Svay Rieng and Takeo with the

phasing out of the PADEE project in those Provinces in 2018. Subject to mobilisation of

additional resources, RGC with IFAD and the additional donor(s) will select three further

provinces for expansion from 2018. Target Districts and Communes for the extension activities,

and target Districts for the Climate Resilience Grants will be identified through Provincial level

planning.

Selection of districts and communes. It is envisaged that the provincial extension 18.

programmes will have a district focus with strengthening of the District Agriculture Office and

District level needs assessment being key elements of the process. Districts will not be pre-

selected at the design stage but will be identified through the planning and budgeting process.

It is expected that selection of districts will reflect factors including agricultural potential,

especially untapped market opportunities, and vulnerability to climate risks. It is expected that

an average of six districts will be selected in each province.

Participation of beneficiaries. Instead of selecting training participants against preset criteria, 19.

ASPIRE will apply a combination of tools to identify and select the beneficiaries as stated

earlier: active information dissemination aimed at attracting those farmers who have genuine

interest to learn on the basis of their full understanding of the opportunities and making

technology packages geared toward and attractive to the target groups (poor and vulnerable

smallholders) in reflection of their resource basis, livelihood opportunities and interests. Project

M&E system will track inclusion of the poor and the vulnerable, and use the Extension Hub

mechanism to assess effectiveness and impacts of the extension to the direct target group.

49

In light of the potential sensitivities around land ownership issues in Cambodia and particularly concerning land that

has recently changed ownership or use, special care must be taken before deciding on including new land recipients.

Under the contracting-out model, PDA will be encouraged to allocate resources to support smallholder who have

recently received new land and who have a genuine intention to develop the land for farming. However, such support

will be subject to verification that there are no competing ownership claims to the land. Land allocated under the

Commune Social Land Concession schemes and supported by World Bank’s Land Administration for Social and

Economic Development (LASED) Project will be automatically deemed to meet this criterion because of the rigorous

process the project has taken in determining the land to be distributed and beneficiary selection. However, if major

support is planned in other areas of recently transferred land, including National Social Land Concession areas, IFAD

will require an independent audit of the land transfer process to verify the absence of competing claims. 50

For this reason, provinces implementing the PADEE project will not be included in the initial pilot provinces of

ASPIRE.

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15

In each participating province the most climate-vulnerable districts will be selected to participate 20.

in the Climate Resilient Infrastructure Fund under Component 4. The selection will be based on

data on past flood and drought impacts and an assessment which is informed by commune-

level participatory Vulnerability Reduction Analysis (VRA). All communes will have an

opportunity to receive support, but decision will be based on assessment of commune

proposals for priority climate resilient infrastructure. as informed by and communes will be

selected on the basis of their proposals

Gender Strategy

Cambodian smallholder agricultural substantially relies on contribution by female farmers. 21.

Women's contribution to food production is greater than that of men's: about 65% of agricultural

labour and 75% of fisheries production is in the hands of women, representing a total of 80% of

food production in the country. While women's role in agriculture is understood by policy

makers, practitioners and other stakeholders of agricultural extension, there is a need to

mainstream gender in extension and make the services responsive to their differentiated

interests and demands. To achieve this, ASPIRE addresses and mainstreams gender in all

aspects of its support - policy formulation, capacity building, extension delivery in selected

provinces and climate resilient infrastructure development.

High gender disparity remains a concern in rural Cambodia; therefore IFAD supported projects 22.

emphasize addressing this issue as a priority. This requires a strategy that integrates a gender

equality perspective into policy formulation and all stages of decision-making, planning and

implementation of activities. For ASPIRE the gender strategy seeks to explicitly reduce the

gaps in economic and resilience opportunities between women and men as an integral part of

the project’s overall strategy, policies and operations. This requires a gender lens in the

design, implementation and monitoring of all project activities that recognizes and address the

different needs of men and women and barriers to fully participate in and benefit from ASPIRE

activities.

ASPIRE's support to national extension programme will present a unique opportunity to 23.

mainstream gender in overall extension services of the country. This will be done through

addressing effective inclusion of and outreach to poor female smallholders in the process of

extension policy framework formulation and making the Steering Committee membership

include gender-informed members. Extension and Research Advisory Board will be sensitized

on gender concerns, and promote gender mainstreaming in extension hub activities.

The inclusion and active participation of women as well as men in planning, implementing and 24.

evaluation of ASPIRE is included in the program design. A critical element of the ASPIRE

program design is the development and application of need analysis tools that will inform the

planning and delivery of Extension programs (Outcome 2). Monitoring and review of the

relevance and success in addressing these needs will be undertaken at the local and sub

national level. Gender delineated needs analysis should inform selection of technology suitable

to both men and women farmers; learning modalities and communication channels.

Under capacity building and training activities (Component 2), women are encouraged to 25.

participate in all ASPIRE supported trainings (MAFF staff, RUA and other agricultural schools,

and other agencies). An indicative percentage (25%) is set for female participants in the

trainings. In Component 3, is envisaged that at least 50% of participants in Smallholder

Learning Groups (SLGs) will be women.

A gender action plan for ASPIRE will be developed which will identify roles and responsibilities 26.

and detail monitoring and analysis to support ongoing review. The gender strategy goes beyond

participation of women in learning groups and extends to tailoring extension packages and

services to addressing gender needs; including representation of women and men on

committees; in institutional capacity building and the HR Development Strategy for extension

services; and project staffing including CEWs.

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16

The Impact survey and reports will provide delineated information on female headed 27.

households and regular performance monitoring will detail gender participation, access and

satisfaction and feedback. Where performance is below expectations reasons will be explored

and program design modified where appropriate.

Table 1: Proposed Target Provinces

Province Previous IFAD

Project

Districts1 Communes

1 Households

1,2

Kratie RULIP 2007-13 5 41 68,099

Preah Vihear RULIP 2007-13 7 49 44,620

Battambang ADESS 1998 -

2003

13 92 208,163

Pursat ADESS 1998 -

2003

5 42 84,543

Kampong Chhnang None 7 65 105,439

TOTAL FOR PILOT PROVINCES 37 224 405,525

Kampot PADEE 2012-18 7 88 132,008

Kandal PADEE 2012-18 10 121 228,969

Prey Veng PADEE 2012-18 12 113 255,355

Svay Rieng PADEE 2012-18 6 68 115,274

Takeo PADEE 2012-18 9 97 195,269

TOTAL FOR 103 PROVINCES 81 711 1,332,300

1. Rural Districts Only 2. Commune Database 2012 3. Three additional expansion provinces to be selected at a later date and subject to availability of finance

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Appendix 3: Country performance and lessons learned

17


Background and Summary Findings of COSOP 2008-12 Evaluation

The design of ASPIRE draws strongly on the lessons learned in implementation, supervision 1.

and evaluation of IFAD projects in Cambodia since 199851

. These projects, while having

important distinguishing features, can be considered to represent an evolving model of support

to poor and vulnerable smallholders in Cambodia. Key features of this model have included a

decentralised approach to implementation, providing support through farmer groups and the

delivery of an integrated package of (mainly agriculture) training and transfers of assets (either

physical assets or finance in the form of group revolving funds). Two previous IFAD projects -

RPRP and CBRDP – also included a significant rural infrastructure component.

ASPIRE shares some common features with these earlier projects but also differs in some 2.

important respects. new approaches introduced to the ASPIRE design have been developed

based on insights gained from outcome of the final review of the COSOP 2008-12 as well as

reflections on experience during formulation of COSOP 2013-18 and early implementation

experience with PADEE. ASPIRE does not represent a break with the previous IFAD project

approach but rather an evolution and a mainstreaming of IFAD experience into the policies,

systems and working procedures of MAFF. Some elements of the ASPIRE approach are

already being tested in RULIP and PADEE.

The final review of the COSOP 2008-12 made the following key recommendations which have 3.

been taken into consideration in the design of ASPIRE:

(a) Moving to a more programmatic approach to implementation of COSOP, including

greater integration between IFAD projects as well as alignment and harmonisation with

Government and DPs;

(b) Looking for opportunities to scale up successful initiatives;

(c) Responding to the changing context of the Cambodian rural economy into account,

especially the increasing commercialisation of agriculture;

(d) Mainstreaming climate resilience in the design of IFAD projects and extension activities;

and

(e) Integrating and improving the management of knowledge.

Additional lessons identified in the design report of the RB-COSOP 2013-18 included: 4.

(a) The need for a new approach to the issue of incentives for Government staff. Previous

standardized salary incentive schemes have not performed satisfactorily and the Priority

Operating Cost scheme was officially ended by Government in mid-2012. The current

agreed position of the UNCT, of which IFAD is a member, is not to pay salary

supplements to Government staff in projects designed after 2012;

(b) The need for caution in entering into co-financing arrangements, to ensure that these

arrangements preserve ability of IFAD to partner directly with government and to make

use of its comparative advantages in directing agriculture sector assistance to serve the

needs of poor and vulnerable smallholders.

51

The projects referred to are ADESS (1999-2004); CBRDP (2002-09); RPRP (2003-11); RULIP (2008-14), TSSD

(2012-17) and PADEE (2012-17).

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18

A Multi-Level, Programmatic Approach

The review of the COSOP 2008-12 identified the need for a more programmatic approach in 5.

order to maximise the synergies between projects, improve knowledge management,

harmonise with development partners and ensure sustained improvements to the capacity of

the public extension service.

Supervision reports and the COSOP Review identified the need to increase the focus of project 6.

management at all levels on achievement of results, as opposed to delivery of activities and

outputs. This has implications for project planning, monitoring and evaluation and for the type of

financing instruments (performance related grants instead of pre-determined line-item budgets).

The ASPIRE design learns from innovations in demand-driven planning of extension services in

RULIP and builds on an improved approach to M&E in PADEE.

Previous IFAD projects have demonstrated success in assisting smallholders to improve their 7.

farm businesses but have been less effective at integrating the lessons learned into policy in

producing sustained improvements in institutional and human resources capacity. This lesson

informs the multi-level design of ASPIRE and the strategy of alignment with and improvement of

the MAFF Strategic Budget Plan.

Weak coordination between different actors in the extension sub-sector, within MAFF and 8.

including non-government agencies, results in limited sharing of information and knowledge.

This is a problem at all levels. ASPIRE will seek to improve information flows through policy and

institutional changes as well as through improved use of technology. ASPIRE will build on the

experience of using information technology for extension support and project monitoring piloted

by PADEE.

ASPIRE has been designed through an open, cooperative process of stakeholder consultations 9.

that continued the approach adopted during design of the RB-COSOP 2013-18. There is a

considerable awareness of and interest in ASPIRE amongst development partners working in

the agriculture sector. The collaborative approach will continue in implementation, with

development partner participation in the ASPIRE Steering Committee and Policy Forum. This is

expected to lead to consensus on the Cambodian Model for Extension Services and to

opportunities for formal cooperation in a programme based approach.

IFAD is exploring options with RGC for an appropriate approach to payment of performance 10.

incentives to Government staff. One interesting model is the performance related pay scheme

that has recently been agreed with development partners and adopted in the Health Sector

PBA (Health Sector Support Programme Phase 2). Design of a performance pay scheme

based on this model will be included in the tasks of the start-up technical assistance package of

ASPIRE.

Opportunities for Scale-Up

In view of the rapidly changing context of the Cambodian rural economy, the “scaling up” 11.

agenda cannot be simply a matter of identifying what has worked in the past and doing it on a

larger scale. Therefore, ASPIRE addresses this issue in the following ways:

(a) Elements of previous projects, particularly the farmer group approach, are continued and

expanded;

(b) ASPIRE builds on initiatives of the PADEE project, particularly in development of

improved extension materials;

(c) ASPIRE supports innovations within a rigorous evaluation framework, with the intention

of identifying new approaches that can be taken to scale in the future;

(d) The climate resilient infrastructure component of ASPIRE is specifically a scaling-up of a

successful pilot conducted by NCDDS with support from UNCDF and SIDA.

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19

Extension Services for the Modern Cambodian Rural Economy

Over the past decade there have been rapid and important changes in the Cambodian rural 12.

economy. The main drivers of these changes have been increasing links to regional and

international product markets, through trade liberalisation and hugely improved infrastructure

and communications; increasing opportunities for off-farm employment, including agricultural

labour on commercial farms and economic land concessions but more importantly, employment

in manufacturing, construction and services in the cities and opportunities for transnational

migratory labour, particularly in Thailand; and the increased availability of credit, mainly through

the expansion of microcredit institutions. Agriculture wages have risen faster than general

wages and traditional labour-sharing schemes may no longer be viable in a situation of labour

shortage. In turn, this has driven mechanisation of agriculture and a change to less labour-

intensive production methods even where these do not necessarily minimise input costs or

maximise yields.

These changes necessitate a move away from an approach to agriculture support focused 13.

mainly on increasing production of staple crops. Gross rice yields are no longer an important

determinant of food security or nutrition. Farmers have an increased range of choices, including

choosing whether to grow for own consumption or for the market; choosing between a range of

possible cash crops; and choosing between seeking to maximise farm income or to devote

effort and labour-power to off-farm employment. A modern, demand-led extension service

needs to be able to respond to this challenge by supporting farmers to understand their options

and to take advantage of new opportunities.

Experience has shown that extension staff working on IFAD projects are not equipped with the 14.

full set of skills needed to deliver a demand-led, market-orientated extension service. Only a

minority of the staff have formal extension training. Training methods reflect a teacher-centred

tradition and are not always appropriate for trainees with limited formal education. There has

been a much emphasis on production techniques for basic foodstuffs and less on assessing the

profitability of farm enterprises or accessing market opportunities. ASPIRE will seek to

strengthen the human resources for extension through a mixture of short-term training for

existing staff and improvements to academic education of the next generation of extension

workers.

IFAD projects including RPRP, RULIP and PADEE have targeted poor farmers through a wealth 15.

ranking system. When applied in a too rigid way, and combined with the incentive of access to

the revolving funds supported by those projects, this can result in recruitment of farmers who

may have very little interest in the subject matter of the trainings. It is also desirable for training

groups to include a greater diversity of farmers. In ASPIRE, the primary criterion for

membership of a learning group will be the farmer’s desire to learn, with the training content

being tailored to match the needs of the target group.

The Farmer Field School approach used in previous projects is time-consuming and evolved 16.

during a period when it could be assumed that farmers were under-employed for much of the

year. Therefore, in ASPIRE the Farmer Field Schools will consist of a smaller number of shorter

training sessions with more interactive engagement of farmers and greater use of multi-media

materials. This approach will also facilitate delivery of trainings through the permanent staff of

the District Agriculture Office, instead mobilising large but temporary teams as is the approach

in PADEE.

ASPIRE will continue and build upon the development of up-to-date, market orientated and 17.

climate-smart extension materials begun under PADEE.

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20

Responding To Climate Change

ASPIRE will support mainstreaming of strategies to foster climate resilience at enterprise, farm 18.

and community level into planning and delivery of extension services and into extension

messages. The approach adopted will be of climate resilient agriculture designed to take

reduce vulnerability to extreme events such as drought and flood. ASPIRE will align with the

Climate Change Action Plan currently being developed by MAFF.

An integrated approach to building climate resilience requires investments in local productive 19.

infrastructure that are complementary to introduction of climate resilient agriculture at farm

level. Although the Cambodian Government has increased investments in major infrastructure

including roads and irrigation headworks there remains a need for resources to finance

community level productive infrastructure including farm roads and small scale or

secondary/tertiary irrigation works. These activities will be supported by the local

administrations with finance from ASPIRE.

Climate Resilient Infrastructure Beneficiaries

Sustainable Investments in Productive Infrastructure

ASPIRE will be the first IFAD project in Cambodia since RPRP to include an infrastructure 20.

component. The design of the climate resilient infrastructure activities learns from the

experience of infrastructure investments in CBRDP and RPRP, as well as from the LGCC

model being piloted by NCDDS.

Like the Commune Infrastructure Investment Fund of RPRP, ASPIRE will support infrastructure 21.

investments through the local administrations and with co-financing between IFAD funds and

the Commune/Sangkat Fund. However ASPIRE will seek to address the weaknesses of the

CIDF through financing fewer, larger investments, through ensuring a high standard of sub-

project preparation and design, and by increased attention to sustainable operation and

maintenance. The performance-based grants will ensure that the local administrations have an

incentive for good performance both in implementation and in maintenance of sub-projects. For

irrigation sub-projects, ASPIRE will encourage the formation of public-private partnerships for

operation and maintenance.

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Appendix 4: Detailed project description

21

Appendix 4: Detailed Project Description

The Goal of ASPIRE is Reduced Poverty and Increased Resilience of Poor and Vulnerable 1.

Smallholder Farmers in Cambodia. ASPIRE will contribute to this goal via the Programme

Development Objective which is “by 2021 an enhanced Cambodian Model of Extension

Services is demonstrated as effective for assisting a diversity of smallholder farmers to achieve

profitable and resilient farm businesses and is adopted as policy.” The Cambodian Model of

Extension Services will be defined in detail through the process of programme implementation

but it is envisaged to provide smallholder farmers with access to knowledge through demand-

led services integrating the roles of the public sector, private sector and civil society.

The Programme Development Objective will be achieved through an integrated set of activities 2.

contributing to policy development, capacity development and two service delivery components.

The components are and their outcomes are interdependent: each outcome depends on results

across all components.

ASPIRE will be implemented over seven years 2015-21. The programme will be implemented 3.

through three phases representing increasingly close alignment between ASPIRE and the

MAFF Strategic Budget Plan. The timing of transition between phases will be determined by the

ASPIRE Steering Committee based on achievement of key intermediate outcomes.

ASPIRE is explicitly designed to prepare the way for a programme based approach in the 4.

extension sub-sector. Planning and implementation will be integrated with the institutions and

budget processes of MAFF and therefore the policy and capacity development components will

support strengthened extension services nationwide. Services will be delivered in five pilot

provinces initially with expansion to at least five and up to eight further five provinces, subject to

satisfactory progress, after mid-term review. The intention is that by the end of the programme

the Cambodian Model for Extension Services is ready to be rolled out to all 24 Provinces of

Cambodia.

ASPIRE will support climate change adaptation through integration of the Cambodia Climate 5.

Change Strategy and the MAFF Climate Change Action Plan52

(CCAP) into extension strategy,

content and delivery and in particular by implementing Action 1 of the CCAP: Promoting and

upscaling sustainable farming systems that are resilient to climate change. Through its support

to the Programme Budget process, ASPIRE will support mainstreaming of climate change

adaptation into the Strategic Budget Plan and annual Program Budgets at national and

provincial levels. The following features of the Programme will ensure effective mainstreaming

of climate change adaptation:

(a) Linking the logframe to the M&E framework of the Cambodia Climate Change Strategy

(currently under development53

);

(b) Inclusion of MAFF members of the Climate Change Technical Team in the membership

of the Extension and Research Advisory Board;

(c) Identifying, testing and disseminating technology solutions for climate resilient

agriculture, using a Participatory Agriculture Research, (i.e. on-farm testing and

demonstration) approach financed by the Innovations Fund (Sub-Component 3.2);

(d) Mainstreaming climate change adaptation in education and training. All materials

developed under ASPIRE will be informed by climate change considerations;

52

Updated March 2014 53

International Institute for Environment and Development are providing technical support to Ministry of Environment

with finance from Cambodia Climate Change Alliance.

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22

(e) Integration of Vulnerability Reduction Analysis (a participatory scenario development

and livelihood impact analysis methodology already in use in Cambodia) in the

preparation of the Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan;

(f) Including indicators of climate change risk (vulnerability, exposure and hazard) in the

performance measurement framework for the Provincial Sub-Programmes;

(g) Ensuring use of climate change risk indicators in prioritisation of investments in climate

resilient agriculture;

(h) Use of improved technical standards and guidelines for climate resilient agriculture, with

effective design and supervision support;

(i) Partnership and cooperation arrangements with other programmes for climate resilience

in the agriculture sector, particularly the forthcoming UNDP-GEF resilient livelihoods

project, and potential linkage of ASPIRE with a forthcoming biogas programme to be

financed by GEF and implemented by IFAD.

In the Foundation phase, ASPIRE activities will be aligned with the MAFF Programme Budget 6.

through cross-referencing of AWPB activities to the MAFF Strategic Budget Plan and the

establishment of pilot Provincial Sub-Programmes in five pilot provinces.. The outcomes of the

first stage of implementation of ASPIRE will be validation of the framework of key principles

underlying policy development, agreement of a policy process; definition of the key roles and

responsibilities of different MAFF agencies and staff for support to extension services, including

the “Extension Hub” function at national level; establishment of pilot Provincial Sub-

Programmes within the MAFF Programme Budget framework and Provincial Agriculture

Strategic Plans based on needs assessment and vulnerability reduction analyses and Climate

Resilience Strategies in Districts selected on the basis of high climate vulnerability.

In the Proving phase, planning of ASPIRE activities will be integrated with the Programme 7.

Budget planning cycle. In particular, Provincial Departments of Agriculture will gain greater

discretion to allocate grant resources to the activities expected to maximize results achieved,

within the constraints of eligible expenditures defined in the grant conditions and activities

identified in the Strategic Budget Plan. The outcomes of Phase 2 will be that the extension

model is defined in evidence-based policy developed through stakeholder consultation and a

resource mobilisation framework has been agreed; that the Extension Hub functions are

established and being used by extension service providers; that the Provincial Sub-

Programmes have demonstrated cost-effectiveness in supporting smallholders to develop

improved and resilient farm businesses and that smallholders’ access to climate resilient

productive infrastructure has been improved.

In the Scale-Up phase the Cambodia Model of Extension Services will be rolled out through 8.

establishment of Provincial Sub-Programmes in additional Provinces (including up to an

additional eight Provinces with direct support from ASPIRE54

) and additional domestic and

external (development partner) resources are mobilized. The implementation modality for

Phase 3 will be confirmed at the Mid-Term Review but it is anticipated that the ASPIRE results

framework will be fully integrated with a more results-orientated MAFF Strategic Budget Plan.

The Scale-Up phase plus successful implementation of a multi-partner resource implementation

framework would meet all conditions for a full Programme Based Approach.

The following sections describe how each Component and sub-Component contributes to 9.

achievement of the intermediate and final outcomes of ASPIRE. The management

arrangements including the phased alignment of ASPIRE with the Programme Budget are

described in detail in Annex VI.

54

Expansion into an additional five provinces, provisionally agreed to be the five PADEE project provinces, will be

financed by the IFAD loan and grant financing and RGC contributions. Additional funding will be sought for expansion

into an additional three provinces to be identified by Mid-Term Review.

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23

A. Component 1: Evidence Based Policy

General Process and Outcomes

Component 1 contributes primarily to the outcome of a national programme implementing an 10.

updated extension policy and supported by multiple donors that provides smallholder farmers

with access to quality information services. It is expected that the policy and programme will

provide an incentive framework for synergies between actors engaged in delivery and use of

extension services.

The extension policy and policy instruments to be developed under Component 1 will be 11.

formulated within a framework of key principles for farmer-led extension integrating the roles of

the public sector, private sector and civil society. The policies will aim to provide clear guidance

on critical issues determining which model of extension delivery works best in different contexts

and for different categories of farmers. Based on policy, a medium-term framework for resource

allocation and investment prioritisation will cut across the boundaries of agro-ecological areas,

themes or value chains and service delivery models.

The objective is that by 2021 the policy and resource allocation framework are implemented by 12.

a national programme and that additional resources are mobilised to support the programme.

Conditional on achievement of intermediate outcome indicators, ASPIRE will finance scaling up

the Cambodian Model for Extension Services to the five Provinces currently implementing the

IFAD PADEE project (for which funding is already identified and fully financed) and three

additional Provinces (subject to mobilisation of additional financing) from 2019.

The component will achieve this through an inclusive, evidence based policy development 13.

process. This process will be directed by the ASPIRE Steering Committee with technical

support from Supreme National Economic Council (SNEC). In accordance with the agreed

policy agenda, a round of the policy dialogue will be organized for each policy deliverable. Each

round will have a start and end date with key milestones and time line publicized in advance to

the most directly concerned stakeholders. It will be an important role for the Steering

Committee to ensure that the sponsors of various policy initiatives related to extension are

encouraged to engage through this inclusive and collaborative policy process.

The policy process will consist of three stages: i) Orientation; ii) Formulation and Approval; and 14.

iii) Mainstreaming and Learning. ASPIRE will conduct between 3 and 5 rounds of the policy

process over its entire duration. Each round of policy making will unfold over a period of 12 to

18 months with clear start and end dates.

In the Orientation stage policy issues will be identified by different groups who may include the 15.

technical divisions of MAFF, the Extension and Research Advisory Board (ERAB), MEF, SNEC

or other stakeholders. Based on proposals received, the ASPIRE Steering Committee will

develop the policy agenda including the key issues for research and policy formulation,

responsibilities, specific deliverables and a time-bound work plan. The steps of the Orientation

stage will be as follows:

i. Steering Committee approves the policy agenda for the coming year and budget for

policy development activities within the AWPB;

ii. Expert researchers conduct studies and gather evidence which is summarised in one

or more background papers or position papers. Where appropriate, more than one

institution may prepare a position paper for consideration. Where needed, policy

research will be referenced and benchmarked against international standards and

guidelines provided by Cambodia membership of WTO and ASEAN. ASPIRE will provide

funding opportunities for exchange visits to countries in the region to discuss and

observe policies and their implementation.

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iii. SNEC facilitates a Policy Seminar to review the background paper and position papers.

Participants in the seminar will represent key stakeholders including policy makers,

development partners and representatives of farmer organisations, the private sector and

civil society.

iv. Based on agreements at the Policy Seminar, SNEC will prepare a consolidated Seminar

report and policy brief including recommendations for the key direction and content of

policy.

The steps of Policy Formulation and Approval will be as follows: 16.

i. SNEC provides technical assistance to the key concerned technical division of MAFF to

develop the formal policy document or regulatory instrument. The ERAB is used as a

discussion forum for technical feedback on the policy during development. The policy

document must include key indicators to be used in monitoring of implementation.

ii. The policy document is circulated to stakeholders in advance of the annual Policy Forum

on Extension which is broadly inclusive of public sector, private sector and civil society

stakeholders. At the Policy Forum, the proposed policy with be reviewed, discussed and

validated. The Steering Committee will then make its recommendation on the draft policy

based on the outcome of the Policy Forum.

iii. The policy instrument is formally approved at the relevant level of authority.

During Mainstreaming and Learning, SNEC will monitor implementation of the policy 17.

according to the agreed monitoring indicators and report to the ASPIRE Steering Committee on

progress. For each approved policy a communication and roll-out plan will be developed which

includes the roles and responsibilities for national level and local level leadership in the

communication and implementation of the new policies. ASPIRE capacity development for

“leadership for change” (Component 2.2) will support the successful implementation of the new

policies.

For meaningful participation by the intended stakeholders, it is important to publicize the "rules 18.

of the game" in advance and adequately. In particular the dates and steps of each policy round

as well as the rules of engagement (how decisions are taken, etc.) should be clearly spelled

out.

The policy process as outlined here will be reviewed and validated by the Steering Committee 19.

during its first meeting and modified as required in the light of implementation experience.

The ASPIRE Secretariat will play a key role in policy coordination and development, including 20.

administering meetings of the policy forums and conducting a number of specific studies.

SNEC, in line with its mandate to advise the senior leadership of RGC on policy issues, will play

a strategic role in policy research and impact evaluation in order to feed the policy process with

quality evidence. Key policy instruments will be submitted for approval at the level of the MAFF

Minister or higher in accordance with RGC policy formulation protocols.

The key outcomes to which Component 1 will contribute in each phase of ASPIRE 21.

implementation are summarised in the following table:

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OUTCOME 1: A national programme implementing an updated extension policy and supported by multiple

donors that provides smallholder farmers with access to quality information services.

PHASE 1 PHASE 2 PHASE 3

Evidence-based Multi-stakeholder Policy Process agreed and implemented

Demand-driven Extension Policy Framework developed and validated with stakeholders

Analytical Unit for Agriculture established and functioning in SNEC

First round of Policy Process launched

A set of extension policies developed with stakeholder participation and adopted.

Institutional roles and responsibilities clearly defined

A medium term investment and resource allocation framework for extension is integrated in the MAFF Strategic Plan

Second round policy agenda approved and process is launched

Mobilization of adequate financial resources to implement the Cambodia Model for Agriculture Extension

Evaluation studies on extension models available and discussed in fourth policy round

Decision on final incentive framework for extension

The key principles of the framework for policy development include: 22.

(a) Setting the policy agenda in consultation with actual stakeholders;

(b) Defining the key policy objectives of public expenditure on agriculture extension;

(c) Assessing what works and what does not work in agricultural extension by testing and

evaluating various extension models implemented in Cambodia, in neighbouring

countries and elsewhere. A particular attention will be paid to the evaluation of

innovations in information and communication techniques by a range of evaluation

methods, including randomized control trials when and where feasible;

(d) Assessing the long-term financial viability of the various extension models;

(e) Assessing policy options for strengthening support and enhancing the role farmer

organisations in articulation of extension demand, participation in policy formulation and

local development planning and delivering services to their members;

(f) Defining the roles and responsibilities of various actors to optimize the efficiency of public

expenditures in extension, including closer harmonization between development

partners;

(g) Prioritization of investments in various agro-ecological settings and for various categories

of farmers; and

(h) Capacity building in agricultural education, farmer organizations and agricultural

research.

Therefore, the scope of policies to be formulated will be defined by the above framework and 23.

cannot be fully determined at the project design stage. It is anticipated that policies will include

definition of roles and responsibilities of technical departments and sub-national

administrations; a facilitative regulatory framework, priorities for allocation of public resources to

support extension and guidance on capacity development. The policies will thus allow service

markets to benefit from clarity in policy to become more accountable and efficient and will

facilitate service users to review performance against clear and understandable criteria. The

capacity to learn from success and innovation and to absorb lessons into future policy

development will be a key result.

The resource allocation framework will support implementation of extension policy through the 24.

MAFF three-year rolling Strategic Budget Plan and the annual Programme Budgets. The

Grants for Extension Services (Component 3) are designed as an early test of the resource

allocation framework. By ASPIRE mid-term review at least four of the five pilot provinces should

have demonstrated capacity to program resources and deliver services through the Provincial

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Sub-Program in accordance with a needs-based Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan with

satisfactory results.

Sub-Component 1.1: Policy Coordination and Development

Sub-Component 1.1 finances the costs of the policy process as described above. Most costs 25.

will be disbursed directly by the ASPIRE Secretariat on behalf of the Steering Committee.

The ASPIRE Secretariat will contract experts to conduct a number of strategic studies under 26.

Sub-Component 1.1. These studies specifically relate to development of the National Extension

Investment Programme and establishment of an Extension Fund.

Sub-Component 1.1 also includes the costs of meetings of the ASPIRE Steering Committee, 27.

the Annual Extension Policy Forum, and workshops to support the policy process.

There are no operations costs financed in Sub-Component 1.1 as these are financed 28.

separately as the general operations costs of the Secretariat, or the operations costs of SNEC

which are covered in Sub-Component 1.2.

Sub-Component 1.2: Policy Research and Analysis

Sub-Component 1.2 finances the costs of establishing an analytical Unit for the Agriculture 29.

Sector within SNEC. This includes the costs of an international policy analysis adviser who will

work for 10 months initially then fourteen months intermittently during the remainder of the

programme, and the cost of two full time national advisers (one research adviser and one

agriculture technical adviser) through the full period of the Programme.

Sub-Component 1.2 also includes the costs of carrying out three policy studies each year, 30.

leading to production of a policy brief. These costs include consultant fees, the costs of

consultation events, peer reviews and publication costs for study reports and policy briefs.

Policy studies to be contracted by SNEC the first year of ASPIRE will include (1) a situation 31.

review of the extension sector in Cambodia, including policy, financing and public sector, private

sector and civil society delivery mechanisms; and (2) a comparative review of international

experience on extension services and the State role in extension in countries comparable to

Cambodia.

Sub-Component 1.2 provides SNEC with funding to support strategic policy studies in the 32.

agriculture sector going beyond those directly linked to the ASPIRE policy process and to

extension. This is to enable the Analytical Unit for the Agriculture Sector to support strategic

policy work and to establish capacity and a record of achievement across the whole sector. This

funding may be used to contract policy studies, to employ short-term researchers to study

specific topics in-house or for other types of policy development expenditure.

SNEC will have funds to provide research grants or bursaries to post-graduate students or 33.

post-doctoral researchers. Each researcher will be entitled to support for a maximum of six

months. The researchers will agree a research plan with SNEC which will include a

commitment to conduct fieldwork in ASPIRE target communities and to produce, in addition to

their core research outputs, case studies / Most Significant Change Stories illustrating the

qualitative impacts of ASPIRE activities.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) will implement a Randomized 34.

Controlled Trial (RCT) to assess the impact of different agricultural extension mechanisms

among Cambodian farmers. This activity will be financed by the International Initiative for

Impact Evaluation (3IE) with a cost of approximately US$ 900 000. The RCT will be

implemented during the 2015/16 agricultural seasons. The timing of this intervention will allow

IFPRI to provide the RGC with evidence-based policy recommendations before the roll-out of

ASPIRE in 2018. The study’s recommendations will highlight the potential impact that ASPIRE

might have on agricultural productivity and rural incomes. It will also inform about possible

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27

improvements to the extension model through performance-based incentives and better

information flows through ICTs. To allow for a speedy implementation, the RCT will be

conducted in the target area of IFAD’s PADEE project (i.e. the projected expansion provinces of

ASPIRE) and in association with ongoing PADEE activities. The full proposal of IFPRI to 3IE for

these trials is available in the ASPIRE design file.

B. Component 2: Capacity Development for Extension Services

Component 2 contributes to Outcome 2: MAFF has institutional and human resources capacity 35.

to manage an effective, demand driven system linking researchers and knowledge-based

agencies to extension agents in public sector, private sector and civil society and to farmers.

There are two sub-components which focus on building systems and strengthening strategic

human resources respectively. The following table shows the key intermediate outcomes to be

achieved in each phase of ASPIRE implementation.

OUTCOME 2: MAFF has institutional and human resources capacity to manage an effective, demand driven

system linking researchers and knowledge-based agencies to extension agents in public sector, private sector

and civil society and to farmers


Extension and Research Advisory Board established and functioning

Extension Hub functions established

Extension Portal designed

Human Resources Development Strategy for the extension sector

Academic curricula developed

QA system designed

PDA/DAO staff working to performance management job descriptions

Field agents accessing Extension Portal to support their work.

At least 50 CEW enrolled in in-service education leading to a recognised extension qualification.

Quality Assurance for extension materials and services functioning

Extension Hub functions fully financed by Programme Budget

Increased availability of personnel with skills to deliver modern, demand led extension service

Sub-Component 2.1: Improving Extension Quality and Knowledge Management

The Extension and Research Advisory Board will be established under Component 2. In 36.

addition to its role in setting the policy agenda discussed above, the Board will be responsible

to (i) improve extension coordination between line departments and with non-government

providers of extension, (ii) ensure the overall quality assurance of Public Extension and

(iii) oversee the Extension Hub. The suggested membership of the Advisory Board includes a

MAFF Secretary of State as Chair, heads of relevant line departments, representation of the

MAFF Climate Change Technical Team, heads of the research and training institutes,

representation of PDA (rotational), and representatives from SNEC, private sector, development

partners and farmer advocacy bodies. Subcommittees of the ERAB may be formed on an ad

hoc basis to deal with specific extension issues as they arise (for example technical review of

policy developed under Component 1).

Defining roles, responsibilities and processes: There is very little coordination within the 37.

public system in relation to extension. This is largely due to lack of clarity on roles,

responsibilities and processes for individuals and institutions. ASPIRE will support mapping of

the current situation then, with stakeholder coordination, will identify the areas that need further

definition, gaps and areas of opportunities. The resulting framework will become part of policy.

ASPIRE will support an internal process to develop clear and appropriate job descriptions,

against which performance can be monitored (this will include the review of the staff appraisal

system developed under CAAEP), for extension staff.

The Extension Hub is a mechanism to coordinate the day to day implementation of agriculture 38.

extension policies and activities by all technical departments of MAFF under the oversight of

the ERAB. The capacity of the Department of Agriculture Extension of GDA (DEA) will be

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28

enhanced so that it can act as the Secretariat of the Extension Hub. The operations of the

Extension Hub will include quality assurance, extension content development and validation,

development of an Extension Portal (database/E-Library), and the development of extension

monitoring and demand assessment systems.

ASPIRE will support the following activities of the Extension Hub: (1) Integration of existing 39.

extension materials and web content; (2) development of new extension materials and training

content; (3) development of a system of extension demand assessment and extension service

planning; (4) establishment of the Extension Portal, (5) outreach activities and (6) development

and implementation of quality assurance systems.

Integration of existing extension materials will proceed by (1) conducting an inventory of 40.

existing materials, classified by format and subject matter; (2) creating a basic reference

repository of these materials within the Extension Hub and (3) selectively reviewing materials

and recommending appropriate materials for widespread adoption and use. The decision to

recommend any material will be taken by the Extension and Research Advisory Board based

on the recommendation of suitably qualified members of the Board. This process will eventually

be integrated with the Quality Assurance process. This activity will also support the digitization

of selected material into the extension portal.

Development of New Extension Materials and Training Content: This activity will improve 41.

the existing processes for development and validation of new extension materials. The activity

will benefit from and continue the work in this area supported by PADEE. It is planned to

develop and validate two training packages and to review and update a minimum of two

existing training packages in each year from 2016 – 2021. It is expected that materials

developed will increasingly include visual web-based, video, and interactive (user input)

materials as well as traditional printed material. ASPIRE will support professional production of

short videos complementary to the FFS materials. All extension content developed under

ASPIRE will promote climate smart agriculture. ASPIRE will support the cascade training

(master trainers and training of trainers) for new and revised packages.

Demand Assessment and Extension Service Planning: This activity will set up the 42.

mechanisms and systems to assess the needs of farmers effectively and regularly; to make

sure that agricultural extension responds to those needs; and to monitor the outcomes of

extension services to feed into agriculture extension planning. In effect, the Extension Hub will

support the Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan with expertise, resources and data. The

system will include tools for measuring climate vulnerability and adaptive responses. The

system will rely on multiple approaches to assess demand and an institution mechanism to

convert these into actionable plans. The data collected will be processed (in some cases by

automated systems) by the extension hub, whose role it will be to convert all relevant data into

usable information and distribute to the relevant stakeholders in the extension development

chain. The key parts in the system will be the (i) farmer level demand assessment systems,

(ii) knowledge hub – statistical, and qualitative data analysis and reporting function, (iii) support

to extension advisory groups at the District and Province levels.

The Extension Portal will be established as the information system at the centre of the 43.

Extension Hub, which will become, over time, the national repository of information, materials

and resources for extension. It will contain all the latest validated agriculture extension

materials and package these in digital formats relevant to end users. . It will provide a platform

for consolidation of information related to agriculture extension that will become a one stop

shop for extension planners, policy developers and practitioners in Cambodia. The portal will

initially consist of five core modules: (i) Content: existing and new extension materials and

technical information, will be catalogued, refined, reviewed, and packaged into the portal.

Selected materials will be converted into “e-learning” tools and tested in the project.

(ii) Monitoring: This module will be the repository for data collected through various monitoring

activities (or connect to existing databases), including demand assessment activity described

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above, baseline and impact surveys, client satisfaction surveys, and regular (digital) monitoring

activities undertaken by programme staff, etc. The information will then feed into both the sub-

national and national systems to inform the planning processes. (iii) End user interface: will

initially consist of a website with a customized search engine. The portal will also support the

development of mobile based applications, particularly decision support systems related to

climate resilience. It will build on the “E-PADEE” sub programme under PADEE. (iv) Data

Repository: Integration of existing databases in MAFF (i.e. FSMIS – DAE, TeleCentre

Cambodia, etc) and elsewhere and (v) an extension service provider directory.

Outreach Activities: ASPIRE will support national and provincial level agriculture extension 44.

related expositions (may encompass expos, fairs and field days). Wherever possible this

activity will combine with similar existing events. It is expected that the private sector service

providers (including machinery dealers, input suppliers etc.) would see these events as a useful

part of their communications strategy and either partner in these events or contribute financially

to participate. This activity will support professional event manager at the national level.

ASPIRE will support dissemination of information and communications materials and will

actively facilitate media coverage of the programme, including by engaging an international

journalist / media consultant on an intermittent basis. This activity will be closely linked to

Component 3.3 and SNV will lead this activity in coordination with the extension hub.

Farmer to Farmer information exchange is the first point of call for the vast majority of farmers, 45.

ASPIRE will investigate how best to leverage this process for improving the outreach of Public

Extension. Strategies will include (i) clear criteria for selection of farmers that have suitable

qualities to be effective for FTF (i.e. community orientated, resected in the community,

successful farmer, etc), (ii) training of CEW to facilitate this process and (iii) including FTF

farmers in the SLG trainings. ASPIRE will review existing methodology and update guidelines

for establishing Farmer to Farmer Learning Networks, support a workshop to validate the

guideline and conduct ToT.

Introduction of quality assurance processes: this activity will establish clear standards for 46.

extension delivery in Cambodia and develop the platform for better harmonization of activities

by the numerous extension service providers through a self-administered/regulated quality

assurance (QA). The success of this system will depend on provision of the right incentives for

service providers to participate; this will be addressed by involving stakeholders in the

development of the QA protocols for certification. Other incentives will include enhanced access

to the Extension Portal, ensuring acknowledgment (branding) of material developers and

certification could become a requirement for partnering/provision of government funded

extension projects.

In addition, ASPIRE will introduce and strengthen internal QA processes to the public system of 47.

extension delivery. This will include the validation process for extension materials,

improvements relating to roles and responsibilities and improved systems for reviewing and

approving AWPBs and other planning processes. The extension QA process will review and

expand the mobile monitoring system developed under PADEE and will include the introduction

of client satisfaction surveys through call centres and other innovative methodologies

Sub-Component 2.2: Strengthening Human Resources for Extension

ASPIRE will support preparation of a Human Resources Development Strategy in the first year 48.

of implementation. The Strategy will be informed by a baseline survey of extension practitioners

(financed under the M&E activities) as well as by the Capacity Assessment Study (Working

Paper 3) and by the definition of departmental roles and responsibilities under Sub-Component

2.1. The Strategy will (1) estimate future needs for skilled personnel, (2) identify gaps in

educational provision and (3) propose improved MAFF human resources management

procedures including recruitment, gender equality, a clear system of promotions and incentives,

training and self-learning.

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The introduction of results-based demand driven extension and deeper engagement with the 49.

private sector will require a considerable change in the way extension is currently managed and

implemented. The success of this transition will require considerable changes in the way staff

and institutions operate. ASPIRE will support training of MAFF (including PDA) staff in key

strategic skills including leadership strategic planning, business management, farm and crop

budgeting,, adult education techniques, communication and facilitation skills, web content

development, knowledge management, and content development.

ASPIRE also recognises the need to improve the extension skill set of the next generation of 50.

skilled agriculture practitioners. Through a partnership arrangement agreed between IFAD and

USAID, ASPIRE will assist RUA and Agricultural Schools to (1) update and improve the

extension curricula of their undergraduate and diploma courses; (2) support the development of

integrated in-service education for Commune Extension Workers, combining residential and e-

Learning and providing CEW and other extension agents at post-High School level with a

recognised qualification; and (3) foster the use of final year university undergraduates to

undertake specific extension related research in partnership with MAFF, PDAs and CARDI as

appropriate.

C. Component 3: Improved Extension Services

Component 3, together with the climate resilient infrastructure activities in Component 4, 51.

contributes to Outcome 3: At least 120,00055

smallholders have improved and resilient farm

businesses as a result of integrated, demand led extension services and investments in climate

resilient infrastructure. The total output target (number of farmers participating in extension

activities) for Component 3 is also 120,000, with the outcome level indicator being that at least

90,000 of these smallholders demonstrate improved profitability through applying techniques

learned.

Component 3 has three sub-components: Provincial Sub-Programmes, Innovations for Climate 52.

Resilient Agriculture and Mass Media outreach. The key intermediate outcomes to be achieved

in each phase of ASPIRE implementation are shown in the following table.

OUTCOME 3: At least 100,000 smallholders have improved and resilient farm businesses as a

result of integrated, demand led extension services and investments in climate resilient

infrastructure.


Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan in 5 provinces reflected in Provincial Sub-Programmes (PSP)

Participatory research activities in climate resilient agriculture initiated

Mass media campaign initiated

At least 4 Provinces demonstrate progress through increased scores measured by Balanced Scorecards

Evidence of smallholders adopting techniques learned through training and mass media

Innovations in climate resilient agriculture demonstrated and evaluated

PSP operating in at least 13

56 Provinces

120,000 farmers

participate in

extension activities of

whom at least 90,000

demonstrate

increased profits

55

17% of these target values are contingent upon mobilization of funds for expansion into 3 additional provinces from

2018; the targets for the five pilot provinces and five confirmed expansion provinces are 100,000 farmers reached and

75,000 demonstrating improved profitability. 56

IE 10 provinces financed by the IFAD loan and grant proceeds plus RGC contributions, and a further three provinces

for which funding is to be mobilized.

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Sub-Component 3.1: Provincial Sub-Programmes

Provincial Sub-Programmes will be implemented within the MAFF Programme Budget 53.

framework and will integrate Programme Budget resource allocations and Grants For Extension

Services To Smallholders (GESS) financed by ASPIRE. Based on a decision of the Minister of

MAFF dated 18th April 2014, the PDAs in the five initial target Provinces of ASPIRE will be

constituted as Budget Entities within the Programme Budget structure of MAFF and will

implement Provincial Sub-Programmes within Programme 1. Establishment of a Provincial Sub-

Program targeting outcome level results and with the PDA Director as Sub-Programme

Manager will be a specific condition for disbursement of the GESS to any Province.

Each participating PDA will prepare a Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan (PASP) based on 54.

MAFF policy and on an assessment of farmer needs and market opportunities. In selected

Districts, the planning activities will include participatory Farmer Needs Assessment which will

be integrated with Vulnerability Reduction Analysis to identify climate change adaptation needs.

The Extension Hub will provide support including technical assistance to PDA and data

acquired and analysed through the Extension Portal (see Component 2). Inclusive Extension

Advisory Groups including representation from farmer organisations and the private sector will

be established at Province and District level and the PASP will be validated through stakeholder

workshops. The PASP will be updated annually and will inform the annual review and update of

the rolling 3-year Strategic Budget Plan of PDA. The PDA will use a 3-year indicative allocation

of Programme Budget resources and Grants to prepare the Strategic Budget Plan and a

confirmed annual allocation for preparation of the annual Programme Budget.

Design of the GESS will be detailed in the PIM and will include (1) an allocation formula based 55.

on the number of eligible smallholder farmers in each province and adjusted for an index of

vulnerability and for performance in previous years; (2) a set of minimum access conditions

which will include establishment of a Provincial Sub-Program targeting outcome level results

and with the PDA Director as Sub-Program Manager; (3) defined eligible expenditures of the

grant proceeds and (4) performance measures. All aspects of the grant design will be subject to

review and adjustment during implementation of ASPIRE, however Provinces should be able to

plan based on a broadly predictable allocation of medium-term (i.e. 3 years) resources.

Performance will be measured using a Provincial Performance Scorecard. The scorecard is a 56.

management tool that draws from planning and monitoring information on internal business

processes and external outcomes. The scorecard will have indicators in four areas: Results and

Impact (linked to the Programme 1 results); Internal Process; Clients (i.e. farmers) and

Learning and Development. Results will be measured primarily by self-reporting by PDA backed

by spot-checks by ASPIRE Secretariat. A telephone survey contracted to a call centre firm will

be used to verify numbers of farmers reached (i.e. by spot-checking farmers recorded in the

MIS) and to measure farmer satisfaction. The scorecard indicators will be designed to

encourage implementation through a balanced mixture of service delivery modalities and to

reward PDA for successfully supporting poor and vulnerable farmers. A model for the Provincial

Performance Scorecard is provided as an Annex to Appendix 6.

It is expected that PDA will maximise returns on investment through identifying potential for 57.

improvements in farm profitability and resilience and, through the Programme Budget

mechanism, allocating available resources to a mixture of extension approaches including

public sector service delivery, public private partnerships, contracting-out of services and

support to local knowledge sharing networks (farmer to farmer learning) which will also

leverage the benefits of access to mass media extension.

The first GESS will be awarded in 2016. During 2015 ASPIRE will finance start-up activities in 58.

the pilot provinces, including preparation of the PASP, through a conventional line-item budget.

In Preah Vihear and Kratie provinces only, these first year budgets will include some provision

for extension services to farmers and support to farmer organisations, to maintain continuity

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from the RULIP programme which is ending in 2014. Continuity activities may include provision

for undertaking a training needs assessment, agriculture trainings and support for cooperatives

(financial literacy and cooperative management – based on the existing PADEE materials)

through the contracting out model.

In the Foundation phase, PDA in pilot provinces will be constrained to allocate resources to 59.

three Comparative Models of extension service delivery which will be pre-defined in some

detail. These models will be (1) District Work Plans which combine direct delivery of farmer

training by the DAO with development of a farmer-to-farmer learning environment facilitated by

the CEW; (2) public-private partnerships (PPP) and (3) contracting out of farmer training to a

suitable service provider, possibly an NGO. PDA will monitor and report on the results achieved

through all three models. In Phase 2 (Proving), once the planning is fully integrated into the

Strategic Budget Plan, PDA will gain more discretion to vary the resources allocated to each

model and to adapt the approach based on lessons learned. Preparation of the PASP and

necessary capacity development measures in the expansion (PADEE programme) provinces

will also take place in Phase 2. By Phase 3 (Scale-Up), the PDA in all provinces should have in

place adequate capacity, experience, together with a performance-based incentive structure (at

the institutional and / or individual level) to be able to programme the Grant resources freely

within the constraints of defined eligible expenditures.

District Work Plans: In the first round of PASP (2015), the pilot PDA will identify Districts with 60.

high potential for the public sector approach which is likely to be most applicable to assisting

smallholder farmers to improve their basic farming skills and strengthen their links to the

market. It is expected that an average of six Districts will be selected in each of the five pilot

Provinces, however this will may be adjusted depending on resource availability and cost.

Preah Vihear and Kratie provinces will be allowed flexibility to cover more Districts at a lower

intensity, in order to maintain continuity of support from the RULIP project, if they so decide.

Half of the selected Districts will begin operations in 2016 and half in the 2017 Programme

Budget. This phasing in will allow time for the PDA to assign sufficient staff to the DAO. A

minimum of four permanent DAO staff with comprehensive job descriptions including extension

work, will be a pre-condition for allocating Grant resources to the District Work Plans.

Initially, public sector farmer training will be delivered through Smallholder Learning Groups 61.

(SLG) of approximately 25 farmers each. Smallholder Learning Groups may be formed from

interested farmers or may be based on an existing group such as a farmer cooperative. Each

group will receive a structured 3-year leaning and support programme designed to be attractive

to productive smallholders who are poor and / or vulnerable. Farmers in the SLG will be tracked

using an electronic interface uploading data to the Extension Portal and capable of cross-

referencing to the Impact Survey. Over 3 years, the SLG will participate in three training

modules, at least one farmer cross-visit and will receive follow-up support from the DAO. The

SLG will also be linked to the farmer-to-farmer learning networks. Training modules will consist

of approximately 10 half-day sessions and a demonstration and will be delivered by two DAO

officials in the first year, then by one DAO official who may work with a technical specialist from

PDA according to the subject matter.

Each District will begin with a work plan under which (on average) 60 SLG will be formed in the 62.

first three years. Therefore, a District starting operations in 2017 will complete the training of

60 SLG (1,500 farmers) by 2021, the final year of ASPIRE. By selecting 30 Districts,

45,000 farmers will benefit from this activity in the five pilot provinces.

The SLG activities planned under ASPIRE will place considerable pressure on the staff 63.

resources of the DAO. Provincial level staff will be required to also conduct a portion of the

training within the districts. ASPIRE will support selected staff with training and capacity

development. In the foundation phase two PDA level staff will be assigned to two districts, these

staff will assist in the district strategic needs assessment and the district level planning process.

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33

They will also provide an enhanced liaison between the PDA and the DAO and be under the

incentive scheme.

The Smallholder Learning Groups will allow for some flexibility for the second and third year 64.

support, and will allow for new farmers to participate and others to leave depending on interest

in the topic. The second and third year support will become more flexible allowing a range of

support trainings to include shorter duration trainings and refresher courses.

In the same Districts, one CEW will be recruited in each of 6 Communes per District (on 65.

average). The CEW will be a local resident with suitable capacity working under contract to the

Commune Council and with coordination and technical support from DAO. The CEW role will

build upon the experience of previous IFAD projects but the emphasis will shift from

implementation of project activities to a less intense but potentially longer-term role of

facilitating information sharing. ASPIRE will fund the costs of training and equipping the CEW

and will pay salary and operational expenses for three years. After three years, the Commune

Council will have the option of continuing to employ a CEW, financed through the Commune

Budget with a subsidy from ASPIRE, under a performance agreement between the Commune

and PDA. The CEW job description will provide support to the Commune Council in all

agriculture-related activities and in particular will facilitate the development and strengthening of

a local farmer-to-farmer learning network.

The Farmer to Farmer Learning Network will sustain and build upon the results of farmer 66.

training (provided by Public Sector Delivery, Public Private Partnership or Contracting Out

models, or otherwise) by creating and supporting an environment in which available knowledge

is more effectively shared within local communities between farmers and other actors including

farmer cooperatives and organisations, local extension agents, local traders (input sellers and

produce buyers), local agriculture linked enterprises and the local administration; as well as

knowledge sharing between communities. Shared knowledge may include information about

agriculture inputs, market opportunities, new techniques, established good farming practice and

weather / climate related information and opportunities to participate in extension activities.

Knowledge shared may be knowledge that some community members possess already, but it

can also include knowledge from outside sources that may not be equally easy for all

community members to access. These outside sources may include the Internet and broadcast

as well as advice from the District Agriculture Office, agriculture support NGOs, private sector

input supply firms and produce purchasers.

The key strategies for Farmer to Farmer Learning will comprise (1) development and 67.

strengthening of local networks; (2) support to farmer cooperatives and organisations;

(3) organisation of local events such as agriculture fairs, competitions, cross-visits and locally

organised demonstration and learning activities; and (4) improving access to electronic and

broadcast media information through extension agents acting as local intermediaries.

CEW will be equipped with mobile devices and will be specifically trained to access and 68.

disseminate information from the Extension Portal as well as to assist farmers to learn from

broadcast extension materials.

Contracting Out Model: In the Contracting Out model, PDA will contract specialist service 69.

providers who may be firms or NGOs with proven capacity, to implement extension activities.

The cost per farmer trained is likely to be higher than for the public sector delivery model.

Contracting out of extension services may be justified where (1) the services require specialist

skills that the PDA and DAO do not possess; (2) the service does not displace any actual or

potential private sector provision; (3) contracting out increases the total number of farmers that

can be supported (i.e. the constraint is the staff capacity of PDA) or (4) the contracting out

arrangement will result in increased long-term capacity for PDA. Each PDA will be required to

allocate at least 20% of the GESS to contracted-out activities in the first two years of the PSP.

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34

The contracting out model may be used to provide specialist types of training (for example, 70.

financial literacy) or to demonstrate innovative approaches to extension service provision (for

example, strengthening farmer-to-farmer learning). The model could also be used to target

groups with special needs, for example poor households with new access to land in the

commune social land concessions. In appropriate circumstances, the contracting out model

could be used to support extension activities by farmer organisations or cooperatives.

For planning purposes, it is assumed that each pilot Province will tender one contract to provide 71.

extension services, of comparable scope to the SLG training programme, to 4,000 farmers

during Phase 1 and Phase 2 of ASPIRE (i.e. 20,000 farmers reached through this model in the

pilot provinces). The contract should be structured to reward results achieved and PDA will

monitor the contractor performance. The possibility of combining capacity development and

cross-learning for PDA staff with the extension service contracts will be examined.

Once the extension service quality assurance function is operating (see the Quality Assurance 72.

activities under Component 2), certification will be a requirement for service providers to be

contracted under the Contracting Out model.

Public-Private Partnerships: Public Private Partnerships (PPP) can include a variety of 73.

arrangements in which public funds are used to encourage private sector firms or farmer

cooperatives to invest in delivering extension services, with the long term aim that the

arrangement becomes self-financing. The key feature is that the service provider expects to

gain a commercial benefit from improved farmer knowledge, hence the arrangement has the

potential to become self-sustaining. PPP usually complement the achievement of public sector

strategies and provide an opportunity to increase the efficiency of public extension funds. PPP

are suited to target smallholders with strong links to the market and in areas of significant

commercial potential. Nevertheless, the experience with the iDE Farm Business Adviser

scheme is that a high proportion (around 50%) of the FBA clients are classed as poor under the

ID-Poor survey. Therefore PPP is considered as an appropriate means of benefitting the

ASPIRE target group of smallholders and poor farmers with productive potential.

ASPIRE will support three types of public-private partnership (PPP) as follows: (i) the service 74.

provider provides direct training to farmers with public facilitation and support; (ii) the service

provider works with the PDA to train input sellers to pass extension messages to farmers, and

(iii) support to a social enterprise or farmer organisation with a self-financing business plan.

In the first two models public funds are used to lower the entry cost for the company to a point 75.

where they will invest. Examples of such public expenditure to support private involvement are

facilitation, selection of target groups/places, the running costs of workshops and trainings and

development of training materials. The private partner will usually finance the provision of staff

for undertaking the trainings, and demonstration inputs.

The third PPP model (social enterprise) leverages NGO funds. In this model, project funds will 76.

be used to finance the establishment costs for social enterprises to expand established

activities into programme provinces. Examples of social enterprises with existing business

models that could be suitable are the Svay Rieng CEW Association; the AVSF Village Animal

Health Workers, the iDE Farm Business Advisors and the CEDAC Key Farmers schemes. Well

established farmer organisations or cooperatives could also qualify for this approach. After

establishment, these social enterprise service providers will be expected to begin covering their

own costs within a limited time.

There are some important principles to be considered before establishing private public 77.

partnerships :

(a) The relationship is a partnership, not a service contract. A joint development objective

must exist to produce a Win – Win for both public and private partners;

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35

(b) At least 50% of the cost of a Public-Private Partnership extension activity must be paid

by the private partner;

(c) Targets, activities, standards, obligations, and monitoring should be clearly defined in

agreement;

(d) The agreement must state how poor and vulnerable smallholder farmers will benefit from

the partnership;

(e) The support provided under the agreement should be for a limited time with the

expectation that the private partners will continue thereafter without further support;

(f) Private partners must have good corporate standards; and

(g) Where the private partner is a firm, other firms in the same business must also have an

opportunity to participate. For example, if there are two major input sellers with the

capacity to provide technical support to farmers, they must both be invited to participate.

ASPIRE will work with companies and social enterprises, particularly those that have previous 78.

experience with PPP extension activities57

to identify the most appropriate opportunities for

PPP arrangements in the ASPIRE pilot provinces. The companies / social enterprises will then

work with the PDA in each province to plan the details of the arrangements. Provincial level

costs to support PPP will be financed from the Grants while national level costs will be included

in Provincial Sub-Programme coordination and support costs (below). Each Province will be

required to engage in at least one PPP arrangement with at least 1000 farmers as the ultimate

beneficiaries during the first two years of the PSP.

Coordination and Support: GDA and DAHP will provide coordination, monitoring and support 79.

to Provincial Sub-Programmes. Including (1) organising national forums on specific technical

topics; (2) training of trainers; (3) participation and support to preparation of the Provincial

Agriculture Strategies; (4) monitoring of service delivery and (5) expert support to develop

solutions to specific technical problems identified at local level or through the Extension Portal.

Commodity Analyses: Sub-Component 3.1 includes funding for MAFF-GDA to commission 80.

technical and market studies of selected commodities grown by, or that could potentially be

introduced to, Cambodian smallholders. The primary purpose of the commodity analyses is to

assist GDA to provide sound and up-to-date advice to PDA in preparation of the Provincial

Agriculture Strategic Plan.

In addition to the GESS, Sub-Component 3.1 finances (1) the costs of motorcycles and 81.

smartphones for CEW; (2) equipment for PDA and (3) technical assistance for PDA consisting

of one management adviser, one M&E / MIS adviser and one finance and procurement adviser

in each Province.

Sub-Component 3.2: Innovations for Climate Resilient Agriculture

The purpose of Sub-Component 3.2 is to support demonstration and testing under smallholder 82.

farm conditions of promising technologies for climate resilient agriculture. Suitable technologies

may include, but will not necessarily be limited to, improved on-farm water management,

adjustments to the cropping calendar particularly including introduction of early wet season rice

or other crops, introduction of climate resilient varieties, introduction of new crops with a

potential to improve climate resilience.

The Extension and Research Advisory Board will have the task of identifying and screening 83.

candidate technologies through discussion with research agencies including CARDI,

universities and non-governmental agencies. Once a technology has been selected by the

ERAB, ASPIRE Secretariat will work with the agency responsible for the innovation to develop

57

This will include companies working in partnership with GIZ-Green Belt and CAVAC projects – see Working Paper

#5.

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36

a testing program. All tests will be carried out in a participatory manner “on-farm” in the ASPIRE

provinces; i.e. research station based testing is not eligible.

Each testing program will include a knowledge development and communication plan to 84.

disseminate the results and mainstream the successful innovations through a review by the

extension hub and inclusion of the results in new extension materials. Innovations can also be

used as new evidence for the review of existing policies.

Sub-Component 3.3: Mass Media Campaign

ASPIRE will finance a mass media campaign with the objective of bringing extension messages 85.

and information about extension events and activities to a broad rural audience. The mass

media campaign will include climate change awareness and will promote climate smart

agriculture. Activities will include: (i) radio broadcasts: six annual seasons of 30 weekly

programmes each from 2016 to 2021; (ii) an educational television show with an entertaining,

competition-based format. ASPIRE will finance production and broadcasting six annual seasons

(2016 – 2021) of twenty-four weekly programmes, each programme being broadcast two times;

and (iii) a mobile feedback show engaging farmers in discussion about the programmes. The

IFAD loan and grant proceeds plus RGC contributions will finance three seasons of the radio

broadcasts ad two seasons of television broadcasts, while additional financing, perhaps

including an element of commercial financing, will be sought to continue the campaign through

to 2021. The farmer to farmer learning activities will build upon and enhance the effectiveness

of the mass media campaign through ensuring further dissemination, discussion and

understanding of mass media messages at the local level. All broadcast materials will also be

available via the extension portal.

Both the television and radio shows will be recorded in ASPIRE target communities with the 86.

participation of local farmers and programme staff (PDA/DAO/CEW). A mobile radio show and a

popular TV show (the Elite Farmer) will travel to specific programme locations, covering the 30

districts of ASPIRE at commune level. Both media programmes relay key messages and help

distribute materials produced by the Extension Hub. Each show requires the active participation

of the programme staff (PDA/DOA/CEW).

The radio show (Farmer’s Questions) will direct distribution of messages (leaflets, posters, 87.

banners) with programme branded visibility items. It also brings a panel of experts directly to

the field level and responds to questions asked by the farmers. During this outreach a radio

show is recorded, and subsequently aired weekly on national radio along as on local radios

reaching the programme areas.

The TV show recording will follow (by a few weeks) the radio show in each location, assuring a 88.

repetition and a frequency in the delivery of messages and program promotion. Aired at

national level on a popular station, this national competition show (working title: The Elite

Farmer) will challenge farmers to grow out of poverty, by relying on the models of change

promoted by IFAD projects.

A specially trained mobile unit will carry out showings and distribution of promotional materials 89.

and conduct Q&A in the villages and communities surrounding the farmers being filmed. This

will help to bring a normalizing impact of the show at local level. The team will also conduct

qualitative feedback assessments and help to identify new service providers and innovative

ideas that they will collect during research activities. This will feed back directly into the

production of the show. The combination of these evaluation reports will be used to develop a

Knowledge Attitudes and Practices Report to guide the show content and future communication

efforts. This feedback team will also support the work of the Extension Hub to test print and

video media materials, and to identify new needs where they arise.

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37

D. Component 4 Description: Infrastructure Supporting Climate Resilient Agriculture

Component 4 contributes to the outcome of improved and resilient farm businesses by 90.

addressing the need for resilient and climate adaptive infrastructure to support smallholder

production in the Districts identified as most vulnerable to climate change. Approximately

50,000 vulnerable smallholder households will benefit, of whom about half will also be

participants in extension activities under Component 3.

OUTCOME 3: At least 100,000 smallholders have improved and resilient farm businesses as a

result of integrated, demand led extension services and investments in climate resilient

infrastructure.


16 Districts prepare District Climate Resilience Strategies (34by Phase 2)

First 8 Districts achieve minimum conditions to receive Performance Based Climate Resilience Grants (34 by Phase 2)

At least 70 Communes implement climate resilient infrastructure sub-projects

At least 24 Districts achieve performance criteria for annual PBCRG increase

3458

Districts qualify for Specific Investment Climate Resilience Grants

70,00059

smallholder farm businesses benefitting from access to climate resilient infrastructure.

ASPIRE will provide grants to selected local administrations at District and Commune levels to 91.

finance investments within the mandate of the local administrations and consistent with the

Cambodia Climate Change Strategy (CCCS) comprising (1) the costs of climate proofing local

infrastructure with a role in agriculture production; and (2) the costs of constructing local

infrastructure that contributes directly to increasing the climate resilience of local agricultural

communities.

In drought-prone areas, investments are likely to be predominantly in canal irrigation and in 92.

small, multi-purpose reservoirs. In flood-prone areas, investments in drainage and flood

protection structures (including refuge mounds which can be used to keep livestock safe during

a flood) are likely to be important. Elevated roads in flood-prone areas will also be eligible

provided that there is a clear link to agriculture production. The table below shows the range of

investment types financed by a pilot project implemented by NCDD-S60

.

Investment Types Financed by Performance Based Climate Resilience Grants under LGCC 2012-14

Type Projects

PBCRG Finance

Amount %

Canal Irrigation 21 $ 142,106 29%

Small Reservoirs 7 $ 58,129 12%

Drainage 9 $ 54,847 11%

Flood Protection 4 $ 33,169 7%

Roads 31 $ 195,977 40%

58

The IFAD loan and grant financing and RGC contributions will finance implementation of Component 4 in 24 Districts

within the five ASPIRE pilot provinces and the five PADEE provinces. The intention is to mobilize additional financing

for 10 additional Districts in 3 additional Provinces. 59

The outreach target for 24 Districts in 10 Provinces is 50,000. 60

The Local Governments for Climate Change (LGCC) project was financed by Cambodia Climate Change Alliance

Trust Fund in 2011 and by SIDA in 2012-13 together with UNCDF and was implemented in 7 Districts and one

Municipality in Takeo and Battambang provinces. LGCC eligibility criteria do not specifically include a link to agriculture

production.

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Assuming a similar mix of project types to those selected under LGCC, it is estimated that 93.

about 70,00061

smallholder households will benefit from the infrastructure projects. Roughly half

of these households will be beneficiaries of the extension services (Component 3). ASPIRE will

seek ways to maximise the synergy between the infrastructure and extension service

investments without compromising the discretion of the District Administrations (for

infrastructure) and the PDA (for extension) to select the highest value investments.

Component 4 will support two financing instruments: (1) a Performance Based Climate 94.

Resilience Grant (PBCRG) which will be an annual allocation to each participating District and

will be composed of a basic formula-based element and a performance-based element; and

(2) a Specific Investment Climate Resilience Grant (SICRG) suitable for financing of larger sub-

projects. It is envisaged that each participating District will receive three annual allocations of

PBCRG and will become eligible for one SICRG based on demonstrated performance in

implementing PBCRG financed activities.

The PBCRG will not pay the full cost of constructing infrastructure, but only the cost of climate 95.

proofing (i.e. the incremental cost due to climate change), taken, as a proxy estimate, to mean

one-third of the total investment cost. Therefore the PBCRG will be used for co-financing

together with other resources available to the sub-national administrations, primarily the

Commune/Sangkat Fund and the District/Municipal Fund. This arrangement has been piloted

successfully under the LGCC project.

Because of the larger size of the investments to be financed by the SICRG, it is likely that co-96.

financing at the same ratio will not be possible (i.e. the SNA do not have co-financing resources

available at this scale). Therefore it is likely that the SICRG will be eligible to finance full

construction costs, but with a stronger test of contribution to climate resilience applied. SICRG

will not be disbursed before 2019 at earliest so this issue will be reviewed during ASPIRE Mid-

Term Review.

It is envisaged that 34 Districts within the ASPIRE provinces will be identified as having high 97.

levels of climate vulnerability and will be selected for participation in the Component 4. These

will comprise 12 Districts in the initial five pilot Provinces, 12 Districts in the identified five

expansion provinces (i.e. the PADEE provinces) and a further 10 Districts in three additional

provinces, contingent on mobilisation of additional funds. Selection of the participating Districts

will be integrated with preparation of the Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan.

Each participating District (with the full participation of the Commune Councils) will develop a 98.

District Climate Resilience Strategy integrated with the District Development Plan. The District

Climate Resilience Strategy will be based on community participatory Vulnerability Reduction

Analysis (VRA) and on science-based climate change scenarios and will identify key impacts of

climate change, vulnerable locations and communities, potential adaptive actions and criteria

for prioritising investments. VRA will be integrated with the Farmer Needs Assessment in the

climate-vulnerable Districts. The District Climate Resilience Strategy will be approved by the

District Council.

The PBCRG is a grant to the District. Commune Councils will identify and propose investments 99.

from within their Commune Development Plans and Commune Investment Programmes. The

highest priority proposals will be selected by a joint meeting of the District and the Communes.

Therefore, in each year, a number of Communes within the District will receive allocations of

the Grant and will implement sub-projects, with co-financing from their Commune/Sangkat Fund

allocations. SICRG sub-projects will be implemented directly by the District Administration. The

District Administration will be responsible to monitor and report on the use of funds at both

Commune and District levels.

61

IE based on implementation in 34 Districts – see previous footnotes. Assuming costs of $500 per household for

irrigation, $50 per household for roads and $100 per household for other types.

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39

Infrastructure will be designed and constructed in conformance with the NCDD-S Technical 100.

Manual and template designs which are applied to Commune/Sangkat Fund investments. It is

understood that NCDD-S intend to apply part of the proceeds of financing from the ADB Special

Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR) program to developing specific technical standards for

climate proofing of infrastructure in vulnerable areas. Design and construction supervision will

be by engineers contracted to the District but with national and provincial level participation in

recruitment. NCCD-S will employ a full time national infrastructure adviser who will review the

designs and intervene to improve designs where necessary. A Technical Audit of infrastructure

constructed in 2016 and 2017 will be carried out in time for the ASPIRE Mid-term Review.

A commitment to maintain the completed investments will be a condition for eligibility of the 101.

investments. For roads and other purely public infrastructure the body responsible for

maintenance will usually be the Commune Council that implements the investment.

Maintenance of irrigation infrastructure should be financed from the value of the additional

production. Maintenance responsibility is assigned to a Farmer Water User Community which

collects water fees. However, experience in Cambodia is that FWUC are typically weak and find

it difficult to collect fees at an adequate level. ASPIRE will encourage the formation of PPP

arrangements in which a private provider partners with the FWUC to operate the scheme,

collect fees and maintain the infrastructure. This arrangement is most feasible on pumped-

intake schemes providing dry season irrigation and is less likely to succeed in a gravity-flow

and/or wet season supplementary irrigation context. Adequate maintenance of existing

infrastructure will be assessed in the performance assessments and Districts will need to

demonstrate adequate performance in this respect in order to qualify for the SICR grant.

NCDD-S will be the grant awarding body and ASPIRE will support necessary administration 102.

and technical assistance costs. Administration and technical assistance to the CRIF will be

integrated with the implementation arrangements of the National Programme for Sub-National

Democratic Development (NP-SNDD). Through its three-year, multi-donor financing and

implementation plan known as IP3, the NP-SNDD provides capacity development support to

sub-national administrations through a technical advisory team that includes a Provincial

Finance Adviser, a Provincial Infrastructure Adviser and District Advisers. This capacity support

will assist the Districts to achieve the performance levels required to access the climate resilient

infrastructure financing.

NCDD-S will conduct an annual Performance Assessment which will (1) confirm that 103.

participating Districts meet the Minimum Conditions for access to grants and (2) assess

performance against a set of Performance Measures which will determine the size of the

Performance Allocation in the subsequent year.

Component 4 supports technical assistance, equipment and operations costs at NCDD-S and 104.

Provincial level. The technical assistance team will consist of one national infrastructure adviser

and one national climate change adaptation adviser at national level who will be supported by

an international engineer who will work for three months in the first year and then two months

per year subsequently. NCDD-S will also employ a Finance Assistant to support financial

management of Component 4. At Provincial level there will be a Provincial Coordinator to

support implementation in each Province.

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Appendix 5: Institutional aspects and implementation arrangements

41


A. Approach

The implementation arrangements are designed to achieve the complementary institutional 1.

objectives of i) demonstrating an enhanced Cambodian model for agricultural services, and

ii) deepening the practice of programme budgeting (PB) within MAFF.

Programme Budgeting in MAFF is evolving quickly. Since 2007, MAFF has been one of eight 2.

Ministries piloting programme budgeting under the Public Finance Management Reform

Programme (PFMRP). In 2013, PB accounted for about 15% of total budget appropriations of

MAFF. From 2015 onwards, RGC intends that PB should account for 100% of budget

appropriations in MAFF (and the other PB pilot ministries). In preparation for this in 2014 MAFF

has establish multiple Budget Entities within the Ministry to facilitate better PB management.

Consequently, ASPIRE's first year of operation (2015) is expected to coincide with the first year

of full PB in MAFF which may bring a period of substantial change in MAFF, especially in terms

of planning, resource allocation and financial management. Thus there is expected to be a

significant and unavoidable level of uncertainty related to PB practices in MAFF in the run up to,

and during, the initial period of ASPIRE implementation.

A Phased approach to alignment of ASPIRE management with MAFF PB will be used in order 3.

to reduce the risks that ASPIRE disrupts the rollout of full PB in MAFF or conversely that the

rollout of full PB in MAFF has a negative impact on the initial ASPIRE implementation.

A key challenge confirmed with MEF and MAFF during the design process was to be able to 4.

ensure that IFAD’s commitment to flexible, results-based programming of resources at

Provincial level can be maintained within the Programme Budget framework. Accordingly, it has

been agreed that ASPIRE implementation will align with the existing five Programs of MAFF

planned for implementation from 2015 onwards but with the creation on a pilot basis of

additional sub-programmes under MAFF Programme 1 managed by the PDA in each Province

supported by ASPIRE as provincial sub-programmes. The Provincial Sub-programmes will

each follow a similar phased approach, moving from an initial "Foundation" phase through a

second "Proving" phase and finally to a third "Scaling-up" phase. Importantly, each province will

progress at its own pace through the three phases based on its actual performance and proven

capacity to operate at the higher levels required for subsequent phases. While similar in

concept, progress of the overall ASPIRE project management to subsequent phases at the

national level will not be a determinant of the progress of individual provinces through to their

own subsequent higher phases and vice versa. The phased approach for the provincial

programmes is described in detailed in Appendix 4 and so is not described further here.

There is recognition within the senior management responsible for the wider PB role out in 5.

MAFF of the substantial challenges they face to ensure the roll-out is successful and to build

sufficient capacity related to performance-based programme planning, budgeting and delivery

across the ministry. Consequently, ASPIRE's approach will also be to provide direct support to

the wider roll-out of PB in MAFF, primarily through technical assistance and capacity building of

key departments and staff at the central MAFF level, in addition to the activities concerning

agricultural extension in Component 1 and 2 and the Provincial sub-programmes under

Component 3. In this respect, the ASPIRE team will coordinate closely with the recently initiated

EU project concerning fisheries and livestock that will seek to provide similar PB-related

capacity strengthening within the forestry and fisheries administrations of MAFF. This is

intended to help accelerate the maturity of PB in MAFF and thereby facilitate the readiness of

MAFF to be able to progress ASPIRE to Phase 2 and beyond. ASPIRE is designed to

progressively introduce a more programmatic approach to extension services. For this reason,

it may be appropriate to adjust the implementation arrangements, for example by integrating

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42

management of ASPIRE more closely with the Programme Budget management arrangements,

during the course of implementation.

B. Organizational framework

Implementation of ASPIRE will be overseen by a Steering Committee (SC) co-chaired at 6.

Secretary of State level by MEF and MAFF, and with representation from CARD, SNEC,

NCDDS and Ministry of Environment (MoE) as well as participating provinces together with a

limited number of representatives of development partners, civil society (farmer organisation)

and the private sector who will be appointed for not less than one year. The SC may invite

additional resource persons/agencies to discuss specific agenda items as and when required.

For effective work and decision making the total membership of the Steering Committee should

not exceed 20 persons.

MEF is the official Representative the Kingdom of Cambodia as the Borrower/ Recipient. In this 7.

role MEF will be responsible for: (i) Providing inter-agency coordination when required;

(ii) Fulfilling the government fiduciary oversight and management responsibilities; (iii) Providing

sufficient counterpart contribution in a timely manner to finance the Project activities, including

payment of government staff salaries; (iv) Timely processing of WAs, approval of procurement

actions and other necessary documents according to the SOP.

Without duplicating the function of the ASPIRE Secretariat, the Office for Multilateral 8.

Cooperation II (OMCII)/Department of Cooperation and Debt Management (DCDM)/General

Department of Budget (GDB)/MEF will support ASPIRE Steering Committee specifically for

coordinating and following up meetings and overall administration tasks while DCDM and

Department of Budget (DB) of the GDB/MEF will follow up and monitor the implementation of

Programme Budget.

MAFF will be the Executing Agency and take responsibility for overall programme delivery 9.

and achievement of programme results. MAFF will assign programme management

responsibility to a dedicated ASPIRE Secretariat to be established within MAFF that will report

to the Programme Director. The Secretariat will comprise:

(a) a Secretariat Support Team (SST) of contracted staff that will be primarily focused on

programme management aspects of the ASPIRE programme itself, and,

(b) a Decentralized Advisory Team (DAT) that will be primarily focused on capacity building

of central and provincial departments of MAFF related to performance based programme

budgeting and management, agriculture and extension related issues under Components

2 and 3 and policy research under Component 1.

ASPIRE will be led by the MAFF Secretary of State, also responsible for PADEE, who will be 10.

appointed as the ASPIRE Programme Director and head of the Secretariat. This will ensure

good coordination between ASPIRE and PADEE, including the integration of the PADEE

provinces into ASPIRE from 2019 onwards. The Programme Director will be supported by two

Programme Managers within MAFF (responsible for (a) Extension, technology and research,

and (b) Programme Budgeting, respectively) and one Programme Manager within NCDD-S.

The Programme Manager - Extension, Technology and Research will be the Director General of

the General Directorate of Agriculture, MAFF. The Programme Manager - Programme

Budgeting will be the Director of the Department of Planning and Statistics, MAFF. The

programme leadership team will additionally include the Team Leader of the Decentralized

Advisory Team who will act as the ASPIRE Programme Advisor.

MAFF agencies and line departments will undertake the majority of technical work at national 11.

and sub-national levels under Components 1, 2 and 3. The structure and contents of the MAFF

programmes under PB is expected to evolve during the period of ASPIRE implementation as

PB becomes increasingly mainstreamed into MAFF management practices. Therefore, with

ASPIRE's increasing alignment with PB in MAFF, specific programme implementation

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43

responsibilities and roles in implementing activities and elements of ASPIRE within MAFF will

also evolve during the course of programme implementation.

The mandate of SNEC is to provide policy advice to the senior leadership of RGC. SNEC 12.

consists of senior officials of MEF and other Ministries supported by a Secretariat. SNEC has a

track record of achievement in developing policy for the agriculture sector. However its

administrative capacity is limited and it lacks experience in conducting primary research. The

role of SNEC in ASPIRE will add independent voice to the policy dialogue and link ASPIRE to

senior policy-making levels of Government. SNEC participation in ASPIRE in turn will enhance

the capacity of RGC to formulate policy in the agriculture sector.

SNEC will play a strategic role in policy research and impact evaluation (Component 1). It will 13.

bear a main responsibility for feeding the policy process with quality evidence. Its role will be to

research, analyse, propose and advise. As part of the Programme Steering Committee it will

contribute to the definition of the extension policy agenda. As implementing agency, it will

conduct or commission studies and impact evaluations related to the established policy

agenda. Finally, it will have a major role in developing and nurturing agricultural and economic

policy networks. To this effect, ASPIRE will support the establishment and operation of a

dedicated small analytical unit within the SNEC Secretariat. The role of the Analytical Unit for

the Agriculture Sector will be to play a strategic role in policy research and impact evaluation

under Component 1 in order to feed the policy process with quality evidence.

NCDD-S is responsible to oversee implementation of the National Programme for Sub-National 14.

Democratic Development and as such, has a relationship of coordination and support with sub-

national administrations. The primary role of NCDD-S in ASPIRE will be implementation of

Component 4 which scales up an existing pilot initiative of NCDD-S in local investments for

climate resilience. NCDDS will also assist in facilitating cooperation with Provincial and District

administrations, particularly for planning purposes. The proposed co-financing of the CEW

position through the Commune budget would require the facilitation of NCDD-S. The NSDP

foresees an increasing role for the sub-national administrations in the management of technical

department staff (e.g. those of PDA and DAO) and, depending on how this develops, this could

point to a role for these administrations in the human resources development activities of

ASPIRE.

The PDA will be the budget entity for the Provincial Sub-Programmes (PSP). PDA will be 15.

responsible for preparation of the annual budget for the PSP which will be consolidated into the

ASPIRE AWPB. Under the PSP, PDA will allocate funds to support activities of DAO,

contracting-out arrangements, public-private partnerships and CEW. PDA will be responsible

for monitoring all PSP activities and will be accountable for results. This role will require a

significant enhancement of the capacity of PDA which has traditionally been focussed on

implementing activities and reporting quantities of output achieved.

DOA is a sub-office of PDA with no independent plan or budget. Many DOA are weak with few 16.

effective staff and little equipment and no discretionary resources for operations. ASPIRE will

build permanent capacity in DAO by making adequate staffing levels and clear, appropriate job

descriptions a precondition for implementation of the District work plans. The intention is to

phase ASPIRE in at a rate which does not exceed the capacity of PDA to assign staff to the

DAO.

The Provincial Administration is responsible for coordinating development activities in the 17.

Province and in particular for the Provincial Development Plan, into which the Provincial

Agriculture Strategic Plan will be integrated. The Provincial Administration will play a direct role,

on behalf of NCDDS, in coordination of the Climate Resilient Infrastructure activities.

The District Administration will participate in planning and coordinating the District Work Plans 18.

under the PSP and will implement Component 4 activities directly and in cooperation with the

Commune Councils.

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The Commune Council is the lowest tier of rural administration and routinely plays a significant 19.

role in grassroots planning and coordination of agriculture support activities. The Commune

does not have an administrative staff so agriculture support is the responsibility of the Fist

Deputy Commune Chief in his / her capacity as focal point for economic affairs. In ASPIRE, this

role will be enhanced through the assistance of the CEW who will be contracted to the

Commune Council. The Commune will assist in formation and coordination of Smallholder

Learning Groups and the Farmer To Farmer Learning Network. CEW will participate in

Vulnerability Reduction Analysis and preparation of the District Climate Resilience Strategy;

identify and propose investments for climate resilience, participate in selecting the highest

priority investments, and may implement sub-projects co-financed by their Commune/Sangkat

Fund resources.

Specialist service providers will be contracted to carry out a range of functions within ASPIRE. 20.

These will include policy studies, development of training materials and delivery of trainings,

and surveys for M&E at national level, and will include contracts for provision of extension

services (Contracting Out model) at Provincial level. The Provincial Sub-Programmes will also

include Public Private Partnership arrangements which may take a variety of contractual forms.

Government and non-government entities in the extension sub-sector will be eligible to apply 21.

for innovation grants under Sub-Component 3.2.

C. Partnerships

ASPIRE will take a participatory and inclusive approach to implementation and this will be 22.

reflected at all levels. Stakeholders from Government, private sector and civil society will be

represented in the ASPIRE Secretariat and, more broadly, in the Extension Policy Forum and in

the annual Extension Workshop and other events. There will be non-government representation

on the Extension and Research Advisory Board. Stakeholders from all sectors will participate in

farmer needs assessment and in planning at Province and District levels. The Farmer To

Farmer Learning activities will develop local knowledge networks between stakeholders

including farmer organisations, the private sector and civil society.

ASPIRE will develop strategic partnerships with other programmes supporting agriculture and 23.

climate change adaptation. These partnerships will involve strategic cooperation and in some

cases may evolve into more formal arrangements. Exploratory discussions have taken place for

cooperation and possibly co-financing or parallel financing of some activities with USAID and

mutual cooperation between ASPIRE and the GEF-financed Resilient Livelihoods Programme

under preparation by UNDP. The EU-financed programme in the Livestock and Fisheries sub-

sectors has areas of mutual interest with ASPIRE. Through NCDD-S ASPIRE will benefit from

cooperation with the National Programme for Sub-National Democratic Development including

associated sub-national climate change adaptation financing.

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Table: Summary of Important Partnership Opportunities

Potential Partner

or Programme

Description / Area of

Activity

Time Frame Potential Cooperation

USAID HARVEST programme

including extension and

value chain activities

Current phase

ends 2015.

Cooperation on extension

policy, M&E strategy. Specific

options for USAID financing of

activities under Component 2.2

(Human resources for

extension) through

arrangements with a US

university.

CAVAC

(Australia)

Value chain project Ends 2015 Knowledge sharing and

lessons learned

EU Fisheries and Livestock

programme in MAFF

Cooperation in support of

strategic budget planning in

MAFF, extension on livestock

UNDP-GEF

Resilient

Livelihoods

2015 - 2019 Shared approach to climate

resilient agriculture and

productive infrastructure.

Sharing of technical packages.

Potentially, sharing of some TA

resources.

NP-SNDD Multi-donor support to

decentralisation and sub-

national capacity

development through the

“IP3” financing

arrangements

Ongoing. New 3

year financing

plan 2015-17

ASPIRE benefits from IP3

support to sub-national

administration capacity.

Cooperation with other CCA

infrastructure funding

instruments.

SNV Expertise in extension and

climate-smart agriculture.

Implementing partner in

PADEE

Long-term

country

presence

SNV expertise in extension and

climate-smart agriculture of

benefit to ASPIRE. SNV is an

Implementing Partner in

PADEE and is likely to provide

TA to GDA under the GEF-RL

project (see above).

FAO Implementing partner in

PADEE. Climate resilient

agriculture activities

Long-term

country

presence

Knowledge sharing and

specific cooperation

A specific opportunity has been identified for a Programme Implementing Partner to support 24.

technical assistance for capacity development, process facilitation, knowledge management

and development of extension materials within ASPIRE Component 2. Such a partner would be

an agency with specialist skills and demonstrated record of performance, that would also be

able to mobilise a significant part of the costs as additional financing for ASPIRE. This idea will

be developed further during the period up to negotiation of the programme financing.

IFAD is in discussion with RGC (MEF and MAFF) on options to finance specialist management 25.

technical assistance to support a rapid and efficient start-up of ASPIRE and to provide key

management assistance to the ASPIRE Secretariat during the first year of implementation. The

period for this support is anticipated to begin in the final quarter of 2014. One possible

financing option would be to use uncommitted funds allocated to ongoing PADEE project,

together with staff resources of the MAFF-PSU which will become free upon the closing of the

RULIP project. Priority activities for this support would include (i) review and finalisation of the

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46

Programme Implementation Manual; (ii) detailed guidelines and procedures for MAFF-ASPIRE

Performance Based Rewards scheme for government staff working on ASPIRE; and

(iii) Updated job descriptions for PDA, DOA and CEW teams.

Partnership with the private sector will be developed mainly through the Public Private 26.

Partnership arrangements in Component 3.1 and through private sector participation in

Extension Advisory Groups, the ERAB and the ASPIRE Steering Committee. ASPIRE will

actively encourage private sector involvement in development of extension strategy and will

seek opportunities to build new types of partnership with the private sector when these arise.

D. Implementation Phases

Implementation arrangements at the national level will evolve in three distinct Phases 27.

(1: Foundation, 2: Proving, 3: Scale Up) through the course of the project with the objective of

gradually increasing alignment of ASPIRE activities within MAFF under the overall MAFF PB

and strategic budget plan (SBP) framework. This phased approach to central implementation

arrangements, with objective triggers and clear joint decision points (between RGC and IFAD)

to transition from one phase to the next phase of implementation arrangements is highly

appropriate given that results-based Programme Budgeting in MAFF is undergoing a period of

rapid change as it moves from its small pilot stage to become the mainstream basis for

resources allocation and delivery of strategy and policy from 2015 onwards.

However it is important to note that the phasing at the central level primarily relates to the 28.

implementation arrangements for ASPIRE at central MAFF level. The implementation

arrangement phasing at the central MAFF level does not affect the investment activities to be

carried out under Components 1-4. Consequently, release of IFAD funds through the course of

ASPIRE implementation will NOT be subject to successful transition from Phase 1 to Phase 2

or on to Phase 3 for the central implementation arrangements. This de-linking of the central

level implementation arrangements and the main investment activities will enable ASPIRE to

pursue its two main institutional objectives of i) demonstrating an enhanced Cambodian model

for agricultural services, and ii) deepening the practice of programme budgeting (PB) within

MAFF, without the risk that delays in one will undermine progress in the other.

Phase 1: "Foundation" will focus on the establishment of the major elements of the 29.

programme at national and sub-national level within each of the four Components.

Phase 1 management by the ASPIRE Secretariat will be under the day-to-day guidance of the 30.

Programme Director. During this period the ASPIRE Secretariat will primarily function as a

dedicated programme management unit attached to the Programme Director with a large

majority of its management support focused on: i) overall ASPIRE programme management

(via ASPIRE SST); ii) support to the PDAs leading the sub-national sub-programme pilots under

Component 3 (via ASPIRE DAT); iii) support to the central departments and units implementing

activities under Components 1 and 2 (via ASPIRE DAT).

During Phase 1, the Secretariat will work closely with the lead departments under MAFF 31.

responsible for MAFF Programme Budgeting, namely the Department of Planning and Statistics

and the Department of Finance and Accounting but will formerly remain a separate dedicated

unit under the Programme Director.

Phase 1 investments will support MAFF PB in the forthcoming MAFF Strategic Budget Plan 32.

cycle (2015-17). The modalities for this in Phase 1 will be that, in addition to the inclusion of the

5 provincial sub-programmes within Programme 1 of the MAFF Strategic Budget Plan (SBP),

ASPIRE activities will operate as complimentary parallel investments to aligned activities

already within the MAFF SBP, especially under MAFF programmes related to agriculture,

livestock and MAFF institutional development (SBP Programmes 1 2 and 5 respectively).

During this period not all ASPIRE activities with MAFF are expected to fully align with activities

under the SBP. However, MAFF's annual process of updating the SBP's sub-programmes and

activities under the SBP (lead by DPS and DFA), will provide the opportunity to update the

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design and plans for the relevant MAFF SBP sub-programmes to gradually increase alignment,

where such opportunities arise. The aim, will then be to have a more substantive alignment

between ASPIRE's MAFF-based activities and the MAFF SBP for the following SBP cycle

(2018-20), with ASPIRE moving to its Phase 2 implementation modalities at the Secretariat

level (subject to satisfactory capacity having been demonstrated in DPS and DFA to

accommodate this). This greater alignment will necessarily be based on an updated and

strengthened MAFF SBP for 2018-20

ASPIRE will, therefore, support DPS and DFA in the design and execution of the SBP 33.

development process in 2017. Phase 1 support to the wider MAFF PB management system

will be guided by the ASPIRE Programme Manager - Programme Budgeting and is expected to

address selected issues, including:

(a) facilitating the annual review and rationalization by MAFF of the structure and content of

the various sub-programmes related to extension, technology transfer and research, PB

capacity, and

(b) further refining the systems and practice for linking national and sub-national investment

within the MAFF PB system,

(c) support to capacity building activities by DPS and DFA for other MAFF teams at central

and provincial level,

(d) advanced professional capacity strengthening of DPS and DFA teams related to

programme budgeting,

(e) assessing the feasibility of implementing improved IT systems to enable more efficient

and strengthened PB processes.

In Phase 1, capacity building on PB for Provincial teams (including staff of the PDA, PA, DA and 34.

other relevant agencies) will cover all ten (10) pre-identified ASPIRE provinces - the initial five

ASPIRE pilot provinces and the five current PADEE provinces. This capacity building will be

structured and timed to ensure that the PADEE provinces have a high degree of PB readiness

by the end of PADEE.

Transition of ASPIRE management arrangements to Phase 2 will be by agreement between 35.

RGC and IFAD triggered by verified satisfactory progress on the first 4 issues above.

Phase 2: Proving will focus on increasing convergence of ASPIRE investments and 36.

management with PB in MAFF and preparing the basis for future scaling up of programme-

based investment in extension. Critical to this will be to build a solid evidence base for further

development of policy and practice on extension and MAFF PB from both practice and

research.

Phase 2 management will see the ASPIRE Secretariat become more closely integrated with 37.

DPS and DFA in MAFF, for example with the various units of the Secretariat Support Team

embedded in DPS and DFA, as appropriate, in order that it can better contribute to deepening

the practice of effective results-based programme budgeting within MAFF.

Phase 2 investments will continue ongoing implementation of the major investments at the 38.

national and sub-national level initiated in Phase 1. The scope of ASPIRE investments under

the MAFF PB framework may also be extended to additional sub-programmes and activities

within the clarified sub-programme structure relating to extension and MAFF PB capacity

emerging during Phase 1.

Phase 2 will see increased support to the wider MAFF PB management with the ASPIRE 39.

Secretariat available to provide increasing levels of support to DPS, DFA, GDA and other line

departments to strengthen PB planning and management practices.

Performance trigger to progress from Phase 2 to Phase 3 will be jointly agreed by IFAD and 40.

RGC at the start of Phase 2.

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Phase 3: Scale Up will build on the proven investment approaches and PB practices that have 41.

been established in Phase 2 to expand the geographical coverage and scale of investments

into the sub-sector using ASPIRE and RGC resources. Additional RGC and donor investments

will be sought for further scale-up aligned to the programme based approach to extension

proven during Phase 2.

Phase 3 management will continue to be closely aligned to MAFF PB processes as in Phase 2. 42.

Phase 3 investments will, in addition to the continuation of Phase 2 investments aligned to PB, 43.

include the expansion of ASPIRE investment at sub-national level to additional provinces,

including the PADEE provinces after PADEE completion in 2018.

Non-PB Investments: ASPIRE investments and management will increasingly converge with 44.

investments under the Program Budget of MAFF through the three Phases outlined above.

However some activities under ASPIRE will initially remain outside of the MAFF PB framework,

most notably: Climate Resilient Infrastructure investment under NCDDS (Component 4);

technical assistance to strengthen the capacity of PDAs and other programme implementing

units within MAFF (Component 3); Innovation grants beyond the scope of MAFF PB

programmes (Component 3), and; programme management, fiduciary, M&E and reporting

requirements associated with IFAD supported projects (Secretariat).

E. Programme Leadership

The Programme Director will be the Secretary of State, MAFF (who is also responsible for 45.

PADEE) and will be accountable to the Programme Steering Committee for overall performance

of the programme.

The Programme Manager: - Extension, technology & research will be the General Director, 46.

General Directorate of Agriculture, MAFF, who will be responsible to the Programme Director

for the day to day leadership of all activities related to extension, technology and research

under ASPIRE Components 1, 2 and 3 and accountable for the achievement of programme

objectives and results in these areas. A primary responsibility will be to ensure the full support

to ASPIRE from the implementing units within MAFF at national and sub national level engaged

in the various ASPIRE activities and the increasing alignment of ASPIRE and PB programme

design within MAFF PB Programmes.

The Programme Manager: - Programme Budgeting will be the Director, Department of 47.

Planning and Statistics (DPS) of MAFF who will be responsible to the Programme Director for

the day to day leadership of all activities related to the support and alignment of ASPIRE to

MAFF PB and accountable for the achievement of programme objectives and results in

strengthening PB within MAFF. In addition, from Phase 2 onwards may oversee the ASPIRE

programme planning, M&E and financial management arrangements.

The role of Programme Manager: - Climate Resilient Infrastructure will be assigned to a 48.

senior leader of NCDDS and will be responsible to the Programme Director for the day to day

leadership of all activities related to Component 4 (Climate Resilient Infrastructure) and

accountable for the achievement of programme objectives and results in this area. The

Programme Manager – Climate Resilient Infrastructure will also support and facilitate

cooperation between ASPIRE and the National Programme for Sub-National Democratic

Development, and between the Provincial sub-programmes and the sub-national

administrations at Province, District and Commune levels.

The Team Leader of the Decentralized Advisory Team (see below) will also be a member of the 49.

ASPIRE programme leadership team.

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F. ASPIRE Secretariat

The Secretariat will comprise: 50.

(a) a Secretariat Support Team of contracted staff which will primarily deal with the

programme management and administration aspects of the ASPIRE programme and,

(b) a Decentralized Advisory Team that will be primarily focused on capacity building of

central and provincial departments of MAFF, SNEC and other implementing agencies.

The size and composition of the ASPIRE Secretariat is expected to be adjusted from time to 51.

time to respond to the evolving requirements of programme coordination and support to

implementing agencies and line departments within MAFF as the programme moves through

the different implementation Phases. The initial composition of the ASPIRE Secretariat for

Phase 1 is summarized below. All positions are fulltime with the exception of certain advisor

post that may be short term or part time.

The core programme management functions of the Secretariat will initially be organized into a 52.

temporary Secretariat Support Team (SST) lead by an SST Manager reporting to the

Programme Director. The SST will staffed with professionally selected contract staff and will

have an executive/operational role in programme management and administration.

In due course, it is envisaged that as ASPIRE moves to its Phase 2 implementation modalities - 53.

with a high degree of alignment between ASPIRE investment activities and the MAFF SBP

investment programmes - the need for a separate SST will diminish and the functions of the

SST will be absorbed within the respective teams in MAFF Department of Planning and

Statistics (DPS) and the Department of Finance and Accounting (DFA).

Given the required close co-ordination and evolving roles among the Decentralized Advisory 54.

Team, the SST, DPS and DAF, the ASPIRE Secretariat should remain distinct from existing

MAFF-PSU so that it can more closely align and work with DPS and DFA to support alignment

of ASPIRE with the MAFF Programme Based Budgeting arrangements.

The Decentralized Advisory Team will operate as a coordinated team led by the Advisory 55.

Team Leader / ASPIRE Programme Advisor with a majority of its advisors out-posted with their

counter-part departments at central and provincial level. The advisory team will be a temporary

team that should not need to be maintained beyond the end of the ASPIRE programme once

capacity has been strengthened in the various central and provincial departments.

The Decentralized Advisory Team will be clearly focused on capacity development at central 56.

and provincial levels and all Advisors will have clearly identified counterparts from MAFF (or

other implementing partners) and capacity development plans with all counterparts to ensure

readiness for phase out of TA before the end of programme in most provinces and

departments.

G. ASPIRE team composition

In addition to the posts assigned to leaders and staff of MAFF, NCDDS, SNEC and other 57.

implementing agencies, ASPIRE will hire a number of additional dedicated posts as

summarized below.

Management

The Programme Managers will be supported by full time Deputy Programme Managers. These 58.

positions will be professionally recruited contract post and include:

(a) Deputy Programme Manager - Extension, technology & research responsible to the

Programme Manager - Extension, technology and research for the day to day

management and coordination of all activities in these areas;

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(b) Deputy Programme Manager - Programme Budgeting responsible to the Programme

Manager - Programme Budget for the day to day management and coordination of all

PB- related administration, planning, M&E and financial management activities.

(c) Secretariat Support Team Manager will report directly to the Programme Director and

be responsible for the day-to-day management of all aspects of the Secretariat Support

Team

Secretariat Support Team

The SST will be managed on a day-to-day basis by the Secretariat Support Team Manager. All 59.

positions will be full-time professionally recruited contract posts unless indicated otherwise and

will be organized into three units:

Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (PME) Unit will consist of the following full-time posts: 60.

(a) Programme Budgeting Officer

(b) Planning, M&E Officer

(c) MIS Officer

Finance and Procurement Unit will consist of the following full-time posts: 61.

(a) Finance Manager

(b) Accountant

(c) Procurement Officer

(d) Cashier

Administrative and support staff will include the following full-time posts: 62.

(a) Administration assistants x2

(b) Support Staff x2

(c) Drivers (as per vehicles)

Decentralized Advisory Team

The DAT will be led by the Advisory Team Leader / ASPIRE Programme Advisor and will 63.

consist of long term technical advisors working in MAFF, PDAs, SNEC and other implementing

agencies. The DAT will also provide technical coordination and quality assurance for all short

terms experts and TA contracted to the programme, including the selection of the experts,

definition of the Terms of reference and monitoring of performance.

MAFF Central level advisors will include: 64.

(a) Advisory Team Leader & ASPIRE Programme Advisor (international)

(b) Senior Advisor - Management (national - supporting PDAs)

(c) Senior Advisor - MIS & M&E (national - supporting PDAs)

(d) Senior Advisor - Financial & procurement (national - supporting PDAs)

(e) Senior Advisor - Programme Budgeting (national - attached to DPS)

(f) Senior Advisor - Programme Budgeting - Finance & accounting (national - attached to

DFA)

MAFF Provincial level advisors will be contracted to the ASPIRE Secretariat and attached to 65.

each PDA to support the Provincial sub-programmes including:

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(a) Advisor - Management (national) x5 (one per provincial sub-programme)

(b) Advisor - MIS & M&E (national) x5 (one per provincial sub-programme)

(c) Advisor - Finance & procurement (national) x5 (one per provincial sub-programme)

SNEC central level advisors, to be out-posted to SNEC to support activities under Component 1 66.

include:

(a) International advisor - policy analysis (part time international) to work three months per

year in the period 2015 to 2019 and one month each in 2020 and 2021,

(b) Advisor - policy research adviser (full time national)

(c) Advisor - agriculture (full time national)

Additional short term technical assistance and experts will be recruited as needed to support 67.

activities under the various components and will be coordinated by through the DAT. Several

such assignments are already described in the detailed description of the Components in

Appendix 4 and additional short term assignments are expected to be identified during

programme implementation.

H. Implementation readiness

IFAD is in discussion with RGC to identify a means of financing specialist management 68.

technical assistance in the implementation readiness period, so as to achieve a rapid start-up.

One option under discussion is to use uncommitted funds from the PADEE project to provide

technical assistance through MAFF-PSU, also using staff resources that will become available

on the closure of the RULIP project.

The objective of start-up technical assistance will be to establish implementation readiness of 69.

MAFF for ASPIRE, by building the necessary capacities, teams and work procedures and by

nurturing country ownership at all levels.

Key targets for the implementation readiness phase are: 70.

(a) improved programme management and coordination capacity

(b) enhanced work programming, budgeting and monitoring methods

(c) compliance of financial management, procurement and contracting systems with required

norms and standards

Documentary outputs will include: 71.

(a) approved ASPIRE Programme Implementation Manual

(b) detailed guidelines and procedures for MAFF-ASPIRE Performance Based Rewards

scheme for government staff working on ASPIRE

(c) Updated job descriptions for PDA, DOA and CEW teams

Main activities in the implementation readiness phase will include: 72.

Building the ASPIRE team 73.

(a) Recruitment: support MAFF to complete the professional selection and recruitment of

competent individuals to the various TA and contract staff posts for ASPIRE outlined in

the PDR.

(b) Leadership facilitation: facilitation of a process with the ASPIRE Director and Programme

Managers to ensure strong common understanding, shared vision and ambition for the

programme and highly effective working relationship around programme. It is expected

that this may entail a series of facilitated discussions, "away days" etc. to deepen

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understanding of programme, think through how they will lead the programme as a

leadership team, likely challenges and how to work together to address them.

ASPIRE Programme Processes and Systems 74.

(a) ASPIRE Programme Implementation Manual review and finalization of PIM based on the

draft already prepared by the design team,

(b) ASPIRE workflow processes and procedures design and set-up,

(c) ASPIRE financial management and procurement process design, documentation and

set-up.

MAFF-ASPIRE Performance Based Reward Scheme for civil servants working on ASPIRE 75.

(a) MAFF-ASPIRE Performance Based Reward scheme design: in close consultation with

MEF and MAFF, prepare detailed guidelines and procedures for the scheme in line with

the principles agreed between RGC and IFAD summarized in the PDR (see annex),

(b) Job audit and job descriptions: Coordinate the implementation of a process of job audits

and simple job description preparation for all staff and posts at PDA, District Agriculture

Office and commune/CEW (as a necessary pre-requisite of implementing the

Performance Based Pay scheme),

(c) Implementation and roll-out: Coordinate the introduction and operationalization of the

Performance Based Reward scheme within the ASPIRE teams.

Programme Budgeting Processes and Systems 76.

(a) Programme budgeting (PB) and planning processes: in close collaboration with MAFF

DPS, DFA and PDA teams, elaborate a detailed process for programme budget planning

at the PDA level and how this interfaces with MAFF PB processes and regular sub-

national planning processes at Provincial and District levels.

(b) PB IT platform – feasibility, selection and introduction preparations:

(i) support DPS & DFA to define their requirements for an improved IT platform to

underpin the PB roll-out and operation across MAFF, including workflow mapping

for the relevant processes and activities,

(ii) review available IT solutions in terms of costs, functionality and fit with the

identified requirements. Such systems may include Enterprise Resource Planning

(ERP) or systems currently in use by other ministries in Cambodia, e.g. MoH,

(iii) make recommendations as to the most appropriate IT solution and design a

dedicated sub-programme for the implementation of the recommended solution.

Other activities 77.

(a) Assist in preparation of partnership agreements with ASPIRE implementing partners,

(b) Training, study tours and exposure activities as required in support of the above

activities,

(c) General facilitation during programme start-up.

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Figure 1: ASPIRE Organisation Chart

Project Steering

Committee (Co-chair MEF/MAFF)

Project Director (Secretary of State)

(MAFF)

Project Manager:

Extension, Technology & Research (DG, GDA)

Deputy PM

Extension, Technology & Research

MAFF Line Departments and

Agencies

Provincial Departments of

Agriculture

Project Manager:

Programme Budgeting (Dir, DPS)

Deputy PM

Progamme Budgetting

MAFF Dept of Planning & Statistics

MAFF Dept of Finance & Accounting

Project Manager:

Resilient Infrastructure (NCDDS)

See Comp 4 for detailed management

arrangements

Team Leader

Decentralized Advisory

Team

Central Advisors (Ext, Tech & Research,

Policy)

Central Advisors (PB)

Provincial Advisors (PB)

Secretariat Support Team

Deputy PM

Units: Planning, M&E

Finance & Procurement

Admin & Support

Steering Committee Support Unit (MEF)

Governance and

Oversight

Implementation

Leadership

Implementation at

Provincial Level

Implementation at

Central Level

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Annex 1 of Appendix 5 : MAFF ASPIRE Performance Based Payment Scheme -

Principals and Overview

Objectives and rational

Objective of the scheme is to create a tool to more clearly link individual and team

performance at each level to the delivery of ASPIRE (and MAFF PB) objectives and targets

Approach is to introduce a performance-based mechanism for part of the pay of individuals

and teams working on ASPIRE related activities where the level of performance incentives is

linked to an verifiable assessment of actual performance

Oversight and funding

Performance payments to be financed ONLY through the grant financing under ASPIRE

Only one scheme will operate within ASPIRE at any time

MEF will approve :

1. the level of the ceiling for payments at different positions/levels

2. the consolidated list of positions that will participate in the scheme

MAFF Secretary of State responsible for the ASPIRE programme will approve the

consolidated list of positions and staff participating in the scheme in each period

Funds available for both individual and group schemes will be limited to those amounts

approved by IFAD and RGC as part of ASPIRE programme financing.

Eligibility and scheme participation

Eligible position will be limited to civil servants working on ASPIRE related activities at central,

provincial or other levels

Individual staff are only allowed to be on one performance/incentive scheme - even if they are

participating as member of a group within the scheme. (no double funding)

MAFF staff (in central Departments/Agencies, PDAs and lower levels) who have key roles in

ASPIRE implementation in their unit/team must be included within the ASPIRE-financed

performance based payment scheme to the exclusion of any other incentive scheme

Review and time limit

The effectiveness of the scheme will be evaluated periodically during the course of ASPIRE

and, subject to RGC approval, adjustments made if necessary to improve its functioning

These procedures will be time-bound and funded solely through the ASPIRE programme and

will expire at the latest at the end of the programme, currently December 2021.

Scheme operation (provisional, with details to be finalized in PIM)

Detailed scheme operation arrangements and guidelines will be set-out in the Programme

Implementation Manual.

Performance targets for individuals and groups will be defined to ensure alignment with

overall achievement of ASPIRE objectives

Systems for measurement of performance will be objective and verifiable and designed to be

practical and efficient to operate.

ASPIRE Secretariat will conduct spot checks and verification of performance assessments

It expected that performance assessment will not be more frequent that once per six months

Scheme to include use of a two-tiered scheme for individuals and group-based performance

based payment. It is expected that the group-based performance mechanism will be used

with service delivery teams, such as for each DAO team.

All incentivized posts will be verifiably based on performance (using pre-agreed performance

targets, indicators and performance measurement).

All position holders involved in the payment scheme will be civil servants and they will be paid

directly into their bank accounts. All payments will be in line with MAFF payroll procedures.

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Appendix 6: Planning, M&E and learning and knowledge management

55


A. Overview

Needs-based planning, data collection, measurement of results and knowledge management 1.

are integral to the design of ASPIRE. Service delivery will be planned based on an improved

understanding of smallholder farmers’ needs and market opportunities. Evidence of results from the

application of different approaches to extension will determine the planning of future activities and the

allocation of grant funds as well as forming the basis for policy development.

ASPIRE supports a reform process and each component will be implemented in stages, with 2.

activities and implementation arrangements differing somewhat in each stage. Transition between

stages will be determined by the ASPIRE Steering Committee based on key progress markers in each

Component. Therefore the timing of these transitions cannot be predicted with any certainty during

programme design.

B. Planning

The purpose of planning within ASPIRE is not only to ensure an efficient allocation of 3.

programme resources but also to effect a sustainable improvement in the planning systems and

capacity of the implementing agencies. In general, ASPIRE will work with the implementing agencies

to increase the extent to which strategic and budget planning systems are evidence based, inclusive

and results-focussed.

Medium term planning instruments, subject to annual review and update, that will be used to 4.

plan activities within the Components of ASPIRE include the MAFF Strategic Budget Plan, the Policy

Agenda (Component 1), the Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan and PDA Budget Plan at Provincial

level (Component 3) and the District Climate Resilience Strategy (Component 4). Planning of ASPIRE

activities at sub-national level will be integrated with the general development planning processes of

the sub-national administrations.

Planning within the framework of the Program Budget

The key instrument for integrating planning within ASPIRE with the planning systems of MAFF 5.

is the Program Budget. The activities of ASPIRE will progressively be aligned with the Program

Budget of MAFF, while ASPIRE seeks to make Program Budget increasingly results-orientated. Three

stages of alignment are envisaged. In the first stage, roughly 2015 – 2016, ASPIRE will support

selected existing activities within the Programme Budget (i.e. the ASPIRE results framework will in

effect be cross-referenced to the Programme Budget), with the important modification of the creation

of pilot Provincial sub-programmes in the five initial ASPIRE provinces. In the second stage, from

approximately 2017, ASPIRE will assist MAFF to review the Strategic Budget Plan to introduce a

stronger results focus and ASPIRE funding will be available for a greater part of the Programme

Budget activities. The PDA will gain increased autonomy in planning and management of the

Provincial Sub-Programmes, which will be extended to further provinces with ASPIRE support and

potentially to additional Provinces with other funding. The final stage is envisaged as a fully

programmatic approach that brings in additional funding partners and aligns ASPIRE support fully with

the selected Programmes within the Programme Budget.

Therefore, the key planning instrument for the annual planning activities of ASPIRE is the 6.

MAFF Program Budget. The Programme Budget formulation process is overseen by the Department

of Planning and Statistics (DPS) and consists of four steps associated with four forms (numbered P1

to P4). The process is described in Working Paper 2 and is summarised in the diagram below.

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For ASPIRE funded activities, the Program Budget will include a table showing the allocation of 7.

ASPIRE funds alongside the allocation of MAFF Program Budget funds for each activity.

Items identified in the Program Budget as financed by ASPIRE will then be consolidated into 8.

the ASPIRE Annual Work Plan and Budget in the usual way.

Non Programme Budget items

Some ASPIRE costs will remain outside the framework of the MAFF Programme Budget. These 9.

will include programme management, monitoring and evaluation costs within the ASPIRE

Secretariat, costs of activities implemented by SNEC and Component 4 (Climate Resilient

Infrastructure) costs. Other activities within MAFF that are essential to ASPIRE but that do not

appear within the MAFF Strategic Budget Plan, may remain outside Programme Budget during

the first phase of the programme.

Annual AWPB Approval Process

During the final quarter of each year, the ASPIRE Secretariat will prepare the AWPB for the 10.

following year. The AWPB will be prepared by consolidating (1) the ASPIRE activities within the

MAFF Programme Budget including the Provincial Sub-Programmes; (2) non-Programme

Budget operations of ASPIRE in MAFF; (3) the annual ASPIRE work plan of SNEC; (4) the

annual ASPIRE work plan of NCDDS; and (5) the annual plan for the programme management

operations of the Secretariat.

The AWPB will be submitted by the Programme Director through MEF and approved by the 11.

annual meeting of the ASPIRE Steering Committee (SC). Because of the risk of timing

difficulties arising, the AWPB will be deemed approved if there is no comment by the members

of the Steering Committee or no meeting is held after a lapse of time of two weeks after

submission of the AWPB for review by the SC.

Planning in the Provincial Sub-Programmes

Component 3: Provincial Sub-Programmes: The key planning instruments for the Provincial 12.

Sub-Programmes will be an improved Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan and the three-year

rolling Budget Plan of the PDA. The Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan will be developed by a

Provincial Agriculture Working Group with representation from the Provincial Administration,

Line Departments Complete P3 & P4

DPS Review P1 &P2 (Realign Policy

Priorities as Necessary)

DPS Issue Circular to Line Departments(to Submit P3 & P4

Forms)

DPS Review P3 & P4 (Make Adjustments

as necessary)

DPS Update P1 & P2 (before Submission of MAFF Budget to

MEF)

January February March June

Programme Budget Formulation Process

Resource Ceiling

Finalization of PB By MAFF

August-September

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PDA and other relevant Provincial technical departments, the private sector and civil society.

District priorities will be determined by a District Agriculture Working Group including the District

Administration, the DAO, the Commune Councils, the private sector and civil society.

Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan: The key improvements to the preparation of the five 13.

year Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan in each Province will be:

(a) Preparation through a participatory process with public consultation meetings led by the

Provincial Board of Governors;

(b) Use of available data on soils, climate (including climate change scenarios), current crop

and livestock production patterns and trends and market opportunities;

(c) Participatory Farmer Needs Assessments carried out in selected representative

communities and integrated with Vulnerability Reduction Analysis;

(d) A focus on strategic results relevant to improved profitability and resilience of smallholder

farm businesses.

The Farmer Needs Assessment Team of the MAFF Extension Hub will provide technical 14.

assistance for preparation of the PASP and the District work plans. The roles of the Needs

Assessment Team will include providing data collected from national surveys including the

Major Impact Survey baseline, IVRP surveys etc as well as available data on soils (e.g. from

Agro-Ecosystems Analysis), climate and markets, and technical and market information on

specific commodities based on the Commodity Analysis studies undertaken by GDA.

The PASP will be prepared in the first year of ASPIRE operations in the start-up Provinces. At 15.

this stage it is unlikely that information from ASPIRE surveys will be available so the first

iteration of the PASP will be based on existing knowledge, but will be annually reviewed and

updated based on improved knowledge from surveys and results monitoring.

During the first year (2015) of ASPIRE operations, planning activities at Provincial level will 16.

include (1) preparation of the initial Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan in five Provinces;

(2) selection of 30 Districts in the five Provinces of which 15 will be target Districts starting in

2016 and the second group of 15 starting in 2017; (3) needs assessment and activity planning

in the 15 first-round target Districts and (4) the ASPIRE Baseline Survey which will be

conducted in the 30 target Districts.

The participatory Farmer Needs Assessment will be carried out in selected Districts each year 17.

and will be based on a simplified and updated version of the field level assessment in the

current Agro-Ecosystems Analysis methodology. In Districts that are identified as vulnerable to

climate change, the Farmer Needs Assessment will be integrated with Vulnerability Reduction

Analysis, a participatory, gender-disaggregated tool for assessing community climate risks and

adaptation measures that is already in use in a number of programmes in Cambodia.

The work plan in the 15 target Districts in 2016 will be based on a template. Each PDA will 18.

begin with an allocation of activities (about 30 Smallholder Learning Groups per District, some

Public Private Partnership and contracted out activities, recruitment and training of CEW and

establishment of the Farmer To Farmer learning systems. Through needs assessment and

District level work planning, the PDA will allocate these activities to the most appropriate

locations and determine the subject matter of trainings. Start of implementation in any District

will be conditional on at least four permanent staff being assigned to the DAO and having

comprehensive job descriptions including extension activities. This approach represents Phase

1 of Component 3 implementation. The rolling three-year budget plan for 2017-2019 will be

developed in the first half of 2016 and will allocate indicative grant amounts for the three years

to further activities in the initial target Districts and the work plan in the second round target

Districts (Phase 2).

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Provinces that meet performance targets for capacity development and Provincial Sub-19.

Programme results (measured using the Provincial Performance Scorecard) will gain increased

control over planning the use of ASPIRE resources in future years, so that from approximately

2018 the Provinces will gain the discretion to expand into additional Districts and / or to modify

the implementation approach (Phase 3).

ASPIRE will expand into the PADEE target provinces with planning activities taking place in 20.

2018 which is the final year of PADEE. The PADEE provinces will formulate Provincial

Agriculture Development Strategies and consolidate ASPIRE activities in their three-year rolling

Budget Plans. However, the details of the approach may be modified based on experience in

the pilot Provinces as assessed at the ASPIRE Mid-Term Review.

PDA Three Year Rolling Budget Plan: The Three Year Rolling Budget Plan of PDA is updated 21.

annually in the second quarter of the year. At present this is a line-item budget for recurrent

costs of the PDA and does not allocate resources to achieve results. With the creation of the

Provincial Sub-Programmes, there will be a Programme Budget section added to the plan

which will show the Provincial Sub-Programme Budget for the following year plus provisional

planned activities for the two out-years. Each Province will receive an indication of the ASPIRE

resources available to support activities in the Budget Plan, based on the PASP, during the

following three years. The grant amounts received may be adjusted based on capacity

development and performance indicators and will be confirmed in the final quarter of the year

during the ASPIRE AWPB process. Integration of ASPIRE activities into the Provincial Sub-

Program and rolling Budget Plans starting from 2016 for the pilot provinces will be a priority

task of the ASPIRE start-up technical assistance.

Sub-National Development Planning: Each local administration at Provincial, District and 22.

Commune level prepares a five-year development plan and an investment programme (3 years

rolling at Province/District level and annual at Commune level). Agriculture activities are

integrated into the Commune Investment Programmes through the District Integration

Workshop. Sectoral plans are included in the overall development plans at District and Province

level. Therefore, the DAO and PDA submissions to the development plans and investment

programmes will be based on the PASP.

Component 4: Climate Resilient Infrastructure

Planning of the Climate Resilient Infrastructure activities will be based on a District Climate 23.

Resilience Strategy (DCRS) which is integrated with the District development planning process.

The DCRS has been piloted previously by NCDDS and combines the results of participatory

Vulnerability Reduction Analysis (VRA) with science-based climate change scenarios. The

DCRS is prepared with the participation of the Communes in the District and is approved by the

District Council. The DCRS identifies key climate change impacts and vulnerable communities

and locations; identifies priority activities to build climate resilience and sets criteria for selecting

and prioritising investments for climate change adaptation.

Communes will propose infrastructure projects that are included in their five-year development 24.

plans and annual investment programmes and that match the criteria in the DCRS. The District

Planning Committee screens and ranks these proposals using the criteria in the DCRS. The

resulting ranking is reviewed by a meeting with the Commune representatives and the available

Climate Resilience Grant funding is allocated to the highest priority investments. The resulting

work plan for the Climate Resilience Grant is reviewed and approved by NCDDS and is finally

approved by the District Council.

C. Monitoring and Evaluation

Results-based monitoring and evaluation is a process of continuous improvement: it supports 25.

management to assess the achievement of results; allocate resources to the activities required

to achieve the specified results; and report performance results to stakeholders. This requires

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an approach that goes beyond routine data collection, to providing information that supports

learning and change.

Fundamental to APIRE is providing a framework, capacity and evidence for systematic planning 26.

and assessment of results. Results are described and planned in a sequential hierarchy,

beginning with specific shorter term results that, when achieved, lead to achievement of

broader long-term results. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) will provide the on-going, real-time

assessment of the processes employed in programme activities as well as progress towards

development goals and objectives.

The ASPIRE M&E system will integrate three dimensions of results measurement: 27.

(1) measurement and evaluation of the impacts of ASPIRE; (2) performance monitoring and

assessment of results identified in the Programme Budget arrangements; and (3) planning

information including the assessment of the cost-effectiveness of alternative modalities of

extension service delivery, in different contexts.

The logical framework provides the causal links and the basis for the overall system for 28.

verifying programme performance based on expected outputs, institutional and community

outcomes and household impacts and incorporates indicators from the RIMS.

The logical framework will be used to structure detailed programme reporting on supporting 29.

activities and processes by implementing agencies and partners, and progress in achievement

of planned results. The logical framework, targets and indicators will be reviewed throughout

the implementation stages and, if necessary, updated as part of the adaptive learning process.

To a large extent, the M&E system will be participatory, actively involving farmers and

communities’ feedback as part of the planning, feedback and learning loops.

The M&E system will cover both the operational and fiduciary aspects of the Programme and 30.

the ASPIRE Secretariat will have responsibility for managing M&E activities and systems. The

Secretariat will coordinate and align reporting to avoid duplication of efforts across the various

levels of programme administration, and oversight reporting to ensure that timely and accurate

data is provided.

Performance monitoring will rely mainly on measurement of results by the implementing 31.

agencies, particularly PDA, however these will be independently verified. The ASPIRE

Secretariat and NCDDS (for Climate Resilient Infrastructure Grants) will manage verification of

programme reporting including process, financial and technical audits. The ASPIRE Secretariat

will also contract regular independent results verification surveys including the major impact

assessment survey.

Management Information System (MIS)

The MIS will be the primary channel of programme monitoring and will support a 32.

comprehensive approach to data collection, analysis and exchange with the main purpose of

informing management decisions on programme matters.

(a) A MIS that supports the monitoring and analysis of Components 1 -3 will be developed

and managed by the ASPIRE Secretariat.

(b) Reporting on Component 4 will be incorporated into an existing MIS managed by

NCDDS (known as the PID) that monitors Commune investments including those funded

by Climate resilient infrastructure grants.

Monitoring of financials, activities and outputs will be recorded directly into the Programme MIS 33.

by implementing agencies. Data will be consolidated so as to provide information to programme

management and produce performance reporting against output and outcome indicators

including gender disaggregated data. Quantitative measures of progress will be supplemented

with qualitative information related to the knowledge and skills, target groups’ perception,

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awareness and attitudes, and behaviour changes. Information also will support the annual

planning and budgeting process, as well as conformance with eligible expenditures rules.

Quarterly and annual reports will be compiled at District and Province level and tailored for 34.

each implementing agency to meet their information needs. The preparation of reporting

formats for use by implementing agencies will be part of the overall design of the MIS.

Impact Assessment

The major impact study will be carried out by a suitably qualified and experienced survey firm 35.

based on survey data collected at 3 stages: baseline, mid-term and an end-of-programme. The

assessment focuses on the outcome and impact changes with attention given to the

effectiveness of targeting of beneficiaries, disaggregated by ID poor category and gender

where applicable.

The Baseline Survey will be undertaken shortly after programme start-up and will incorporate 36.

the farmer needs assessment used to develop the Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan. The

survey instrument will record household level key socio-economic and demographic information

including assets, livelihoods, farming systems, yields and profitability of farm businesses,

climate vulnerability and access to extension services. Baseline questions will be used to

provide farmer needs assessment.

A statistical valid approach to sampling reflective of the smallholder farmers over the 30 target 37.

Districts in the five initial ASPIRE provinces that could be considered as target households will

be developed by the survey firm. Follow-up surveys will be conducted to interview the same

panel of beneficiaries which will allow longitudinal analysis, and comparison to non-ASPIRE

farmers including assessment of whether there is flow of indirect benefits.

Performance Monitoring

Monitoring will be an integral part of the programme. Implementing staff will be responsible for 38.

providing data that demonstrates performance in their particular areas, and the ASPIRE

Secretariat will manage independent spot-checks and result verification surveys.

Monitoring information will: (1) provide programme management support to ensure efficient and 39.

effective delivery of processes and activities to achieve outputs; (2) measure progress towards

the project objectives by measuring the indicators defined in the Logical framework which

incorporates indicators needed for the IFAD Results and Impacts Management System (RIMS);

and (3) generate learnings and information that will support planning and review of programme

objectives and outcomes.

A range of M&E tools will provide the planning and performance information needed for policy 40.

analysis and policy formulation (Outcome 1); design of capacity development activities

(Outcome 2) and service delivery (Outcome 3).

The regular monitoring of activities and output indicators for Outcome 1 and Outcome 2 will be 41.

verified by an Independent Evaluation of Policy and Capacity Development. Progress will

be assessed by an independent evaluation team (one international and one national expert)

who will report to the Secretariat. The results of the assessment will be used by the ASPIRE

Steering Committee to determine when Stage 1 and Stage 2 of ASPIRE implementation are

substantially complete. Therefore, two studies will be carried out, one planned for 2016 and the

second (tentatively) for 2018.

The Extension Practitioner Survey will also provide quantitative data for measuring the 42.

achievement of Outcome 2. A baseline with mid-term and end of programme surveys will be

conducted providing information on the number and quality of extension service providers. A

survey of a panel sample of extension practitioners in the public sector, private sector and civil

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society will be constructed to approximate a representative sample62

. The survey will include

questions on qualifications, skills, attitudes and practices of the practitioners; as well as contact

with and services received from MAFF.

Once extension activities commence details of the farmers entering the ASPIRE program will 43.

be collected by DAO staff and CEWs and upload directly to the MIS. Farmer tracking data will

be used to measure results of the extension programmes based the profitability and resilience

of the farm business. Information will be provided in format that allows cross referencing to the

impact survey data.

A random sample of farmers will be interviewed to verify the accuracy of the farmer tracking. 44.

The first performance assessments, through an annual Results Verification Survey, will be

conducted in 2017 and the results will be taken into consideration in setting the grant amounts

for the Provincial Sub-Programmes in 2018 and subsequent years.

Provincial Performance Scorecard: Performance of each of the Provincial Sub-programmes 45.

will be assessed using a Provincial Performance Scorecard. The scorecard indicators will be

designed to encourage implementation through a balanced mixture of service delivery

modalities and to reward PDA for successfully supporting poor and vulnerable farmers. The

scorecard is a management tool that draws from planning and monitoring information on

internal business processes and external outcomes and will have indicators in four areas:

Results and Impact; Internal Process; Clients (i.e. farmers) satisfaction and reach; and Learning

and Development. Overall achievement against this scorecard will be incorporated into the log

frame reporting (Outcome 2). A model for the Provincial Performance Scorecard is provided as

an annex to this Appendix.

NCDDS will conduct an annual Performance Assessment of Districts receiving support for 46.

Climate Resilient Infrastructure (Outcome 3 - Component 4), against established performance

measures. The results will be used to determine the size of the Performance Based Climate

Resilience Grants in future years and will also determine eligibility to apply for a Special

Purpose Climate Resilience Grant.

The M&E tools will complement and enhance research and knowledge activities throughout the 47.

programme components. In particular Randomised Controlled Trials (RCT) conducted by

IFPRI with support from 3iE will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of different extension

models from the ASPIRE programme and elsewhere. They will provide high quality, statistically

robust evidence of the effectiveness of key elements of the extension approaches. The RCT

may directly sample farmers engaged in Provincial Sub-Programme activities, together with

control groups, or the test treatments financed by the Innovation Grants. The field results of

RCT will be inform the policy development (Outcome 1) and extension methods and materials

under Outcome 2. The results will be cross-referenced to the overall impacts of ASPIRE to

corroborate and add more detail to the M&E findings.

Qualitative analysis will also be used to expand the understanding of the influences on and 48.

dimensions of change and impacts (including the effect of gender and climate vulnerability)

through the use of case studies and most significant change stories (MSCS). This

information will be used to complement and nuance the quantitative reporting, support the

knowledge management and learning objectives of ASPIRE and identify possible areas for

improvement in the future. While the main impact study focuses on the key performance

indicators it may not be able to provide insights on a number of social and institutional issues.

Case studies and MSCS allow for an in-depth understanding of the context and human factors 49.

behind performance monitoring, providing participatory M&E tools to collecting information of

changes in peoples' lives as a result of programme interventions, and allow the beneficiaries to

explain what made the difference from their perspective. This supports data capture of

62

Construction of a sampling frame for true random sampling will probably not be feasible.

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unexpected results and fosters knowledge management and programme improvement. For

MSCS a number of families will be followed and interviewed throughout the programme. This

will show changes in specific domains (that still need to be defined in agreement with the

partners); examples might be ownership of assets, agricultural practices, and household

demographics.

Qualitative studies will also be collected from other programme stakeholders such as PDA, 50.

DAO and extension workers to demonstrate the progress and effect of institutional and human

capacity. These studies will be linked to the Independent Evaluation of Policy and Capacity

Development (refer to para. 41)

Participatory Evaluations of the Climate Resilient Infrastructure investments will also be 51.

conducted following a methodology piloted by NCDDS. The evaluations will be conducted with

a focus group of beneficiaries and will combine evaluation by a team from NCDDS with self-

evaluation by the beneficiaries. The evaluations will seek to measure the quality of the sub-

project design and implementation process, the quality of the outputs and the cost-

effectiveness of the sub-projects as investments for climate resilience.

Monitoring Technology

The development of the MIS will be informed by learnings from the PADEE system and will 52.

enable links to PADEE data and reporting. Mobile technology will be provided so that

implementing agents, including DAO and CEW, are able to directly upload data on field

activities to the MIS.

Options and suitability of telephone surveys that enable simple farmer surveys (tracking data, 53.

needs, satisfaction, outreach and suitability of response to mass media campaigns etc.) and

data verification (including spot checks of farmers reached) will be explored. This would

include Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) technology. The effectiveness and potential

scope of this technology including results verification and farmer need assessment will be

evaluated. This will include an assessment of farmer support required to respond including

training and incentives.

Links to National M&E framework for Climate Change

The Cambodian government launched the Climate Change Strategic Plan 2014 – 2023 in late 54.

2013. MoE in partnership with IIED is developing a national M&E framework based on the

Tracking Adaption and Measuring Development (TASM) approach. This framework will

integrate national and sub-national development plans and actions as well as consider

measurement tools on a sector basis. IFAD and MAFF will continue to liaise with MoE on the

development of the national framework, indicators and tools and review the ASPIRE log frame,

when and if, national reporting requirements are established to ensure harmonization.

ASPIRE monitoring and evaluation will be coordinated by the ASPIRE Secretariat and will 55.

integrate three dimensions of results measurement: (1) measurement of the impact of ASPIRE;

(2) assessment of the cost-effectiveness of alternative modalities of extension service delivery,

in different contexts; and (3) performance assessment linked to results identified in the

Programme Budget. The M&E systems will also provide for fiduciary monitoring

(i.e. verification of appropriate use of project funds).

Management Information System and Verification

Activities and outputs will be monitored by the implementing agencies and will be recorded in a 56.

Programme MIS. Performance monitoring will rely mainly on measurement of results by the

implementing agencies, particularly PDA, but performance measures will be independently

verified. The ASPIRE Secretariat will contract and manage the results verification surveys and

the major impact assessment survey.

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The Programme MIS will be managed by the M&E unit within the ASPIRE 57.

Secretariat and will be based on the system developed for PADEE. DAO and CEW will directly

upload data on field activities to the MIS. Quarterly and annual reports will be compiled at

District and Province level and in each implementing agency, based on the data already

recorded in the MIS.

The MIS will provide the basic information needed for monitoring the proper use of programme 58.

funds, in particular, compliance with rules for eligible expenditures of grant financing. The

ASPIRE Secretariat (for Extension Grants and Innovation Grants) and NCDDS (for Climate

Resilient Infrastructure Grants) will conduct on-the-ground verifications including process,

financial audit trail and technical audit. Reports of these verifications will be made available to

IFAD supervision for spot-checking.

Major Impact Survey

The major impact survey will be carried out by a suitably qualified and experienced survey firm 59.

and will consist of a baseline survey, a mid-term follow-up survey and an end-of-programme

survey. The sample population will be smallholder farmers in the ASPIRE target group, in

30 Districts in the five initial ASPIRE provinces. The size of the sample population is estimated

to be around 200,000 farm households (assuming there are about 10,000 farm households per

District and that about 66% of these could be considered as the ASPIRE target). Stratified

random sampling will be used with the aim of identifying and interviewing in detail about

3,000 households (i.e. 100 per District). It is expected that about 50% of these will become

ASPIRE beneficiaries. The follow-up surveys will interview the same panel of beneficiaries. The

survey instrument will record key demographic and socio-economic information, RIMS

indicators, information on livelihoods, farming systems, yields and profitability of farm

businesses, information on climate vulnerability and information on access to extension

services.

Farmer Tracking

Details of farmers entering the ASPIRE extension programmes will be entered directly to the 60.

MIS using electronic technology (most probably a laptop or tablet computer). The data recorded

will be sufficient to assess the profitability and resilience of the farm business and will be in

similar format (and so can be cross-referenced) to the impact survey data. ASPIRE farmers will

report results annually for three years, using the same system. This will be the basic means of

measuring the results achieved by the Provincial sub-programmes.

Performance Evaluations and Results Verification Survey

The results of the extension programmes will be measured primarily by the farmer tracking 61.

system described above. As this is essentially a self-assessment system (the data are input by

DAO staff) the results will be subject to verification by an independent survey. This survey will

be contracted by the ASPIRE Secretariat and will interview a random sample of farmers to

check the accuracy of the farmer tracking. The first performance assessments will be

conducted in 2017 and the results will be taken into consideration in setting the grant amounts

for the Provincial Sub-Programmes in 2018 and subsequent years.

The effectiveness of the different models of extension service delivery will be evaluated using 62.

Farmer Tracking and the Results Verification Survey supported by qualitative analysis. These

findings will then be validated using the Major Impact Survey data.

NCDDS will conduct annual performance assessments of Districts participating in Component 4 63.

(Climate Resilient Infrastructure). The performance assessment system will be based on one

already piloted by NCDDS. The results of the performance assessment will determine the size

of the Performance Based Climate Resilience Grants in future years and will also determine

eligibility to apply for a Special Purpose Climate Resilience Grant.

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IVRS Technology

ASPIRE will introduce Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) technology conducting 64.

simple surveys of farmers. The effectiveness and potential scope of this technology will be

evaluated but it could potentially be used for the results verification surveys as well as for

surveys of farmer needs, access to information etc. It may be found that the system requires

support from the CEW who can train farmers to respond to IVRS surveys. Consideration will be

given to incentives for farmers to respond to IVRS surveys, such as payment in telephone

credit or entry into a lottery linked to the Agriculture Fairs.

Independent Evaluation of Policy and Capacity Development

Progress in policy and capacity development will be assessed by an independent evaluation 65.

team (one international and one national expert) who will report to the Secretariat. The results

of the assessment will be used by the ASPIRE Steering Committee to determine when Stage 1

and Stage 2 of ASPIRE implementation are substantially complete. Therefore, two studies will

be carried out, one planned for 2016 and the second (tentatively) for 2018.

Extension Practitioner Survey

The Extension Practitioner Survey will provide quantitative data for measuring the impacts of 66.

Component 2. The methodology will be a questionnaire survey of a panel sample of extension

practitioners in the public sector, private sector and civil society, constructed to approximate to

a representative sample63

. The subject matter of the survey will include qualifications, skills,

knowledge, attitudes and practices of the practitioners; as well as contact with and services

received from MAFF (i.e. in follow up surveys, use of the Extension Hub).

Randomised Controlled Trials

Randomised Controlled Trials will be used to test innovative extension methodologies including 67.

those being used in the Provincial Sub-Programmes. The RCT will be implemented by IFPRI

using finance from the Gates Foundation. The RCT may directly sample farmers engaged in

Provincial Sub-Programme activities, together with control groups, or the test treatments may

be financed by Innovation Grants. The results of RCT will be taken into account in policy

formulation and in developing extension methods and materials under Component 2. The

results will also serve as a useful cross-reference for assessing the overall impacts of ASPIRE.

Component 4: Participatory Evaluations

Districts receiving Climate Resilience Grants will be obliged to conduct participatory evaluations 68.

of the sub-projects, following a methodology already piloted by NCDDS. The evaluations will be

conducted with a focus group of beneficiaries and will combine evaluation by a team from

NCDDS with self-evaluation by the beneficiaries. The evaluations will seek to measure the

quality of the sub-project design and implementation process, the quality of the outputs and the

cost-effectiveness of the sub-projects as investments for climate resilience.

Monitoring of Activities and Outputs

Field activities will be recorded in the MIS using electronic data directly input by DAO officials 69.

and CEW. This will build upon systems already in use in PADEE. Quarterly and annual reports

will be compiled at District and Province level and in each implementing agency, based on the

data already recorded in the MIS.

The Results Verification Survey will provide verification of physical delivery of services under 70.

Component 3.1. For Component 4, a Technical Audit of infrastructure will be carried out to

verify quantity and quality of works delivered.

63

Construction of a sampling frame for true random sampling will probably not be feasible.

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D. Knowledge Management

ASPIRE is specifically designed to generate knowledge and to improve the capacity to use and 71.

share knowledge at all levels. Specifically, ASPIRE will result in improved knowledge in the

following areas:

(a) The efficacy and cost-effectiveness of different approaches to extension, subject to

different contexts (i.e. what works, where);

(b) Smallholder farmers’ needs for extension services, and how smallholders can be

assisted to identify and take advantage of emerging market opportunities;

(c) The capacities and appropriate roles of the public sector, private sector and civil society

in agriculture services in a Cambodian context

Component 1 will specifically seek to enhance the capacity to develop policy based on 72.

evidence generated by measurement of the results of ASPIRE and by a range of policy studies

and field trials (RCT). This capacity will be developed within SNEC which has a mandate to

advise the senior leadership of RGC on policy matters, but also within the senior leadership of

MAFF and within a wider community of stakeholders. Demonstration of an effective, inclusive

and evidence-based policy process will be co-equally important with the policy outcomes.

Within Component 2, the Extension Hub is a knowledge management facility that will assist in 73.

generating knowledge based on research and implementation results, as well as systematically

organising existing knowledge resources (extension materials etc.) and making knowledge

accessible to extension practitioners and farmers via the Extension Portal.

The Farmer Needs Assessment tools developed within the Extension Hub and the Provincial 74.

Agriculture Strategic Plan will lead to improved understanding of farmer needs and

opportunities and this knowledge will be used in developing appropriate extension materials

and strengthening the systems for planning and delivering demand-led services.

Component 3 will strengthen learning systems through innovative approaches to extension 75.

delivery, including improved model for public sector extension as well as innovative modalities

of partnership with the private sector and civil society. The farmer-to-farmer learning activities

will strengthen the sharing of locally available knowledge and will also leverage the

effectiveness of mass media extension using broadcast and internet access to knowledge.

ASPIRE will build partnerships and share knowledge as widely as possible. This will include 76.

specific cooperation and knowledge sharing with the PADEE project (including cost-sharing of

the national extension workshops, sharing of extension materials and bringing the

measurement of PADEE results within the learning framework of ASPIRE); knowledge-based

partnerships with USAID and with the UNDP-GEF Resilient Livelihoods project, cooperation

with academic and research institutes and specifically, cooperation with the ACIAR support to

agricultural research within CARDI.

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66

Summary Table of ASPIRE Expansion Plan and Key Planning and M&E Activities

Year Provinces Provincial Sub-Programme

(1)

Climate

Resilient

Agriculture (2)

Key Planning and M&E Activities

Dist

.

FFS

Group

PPP CO PBG SPG

2015 5 5 pilot provinces formulate Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan (PASP)

30 Districts selected and baseline survey conducted

Extension Practitioner survey 1

15 Districts conduct needs assessment

8 climate vulnerable districts formulate Climate Resilience Strategy (CRS)

2016 5 15 450 5 5 8 Policy and capacity progress evaluation

PASP reviewed and updated

15 additional District needs assessments

ASPIRE activities consolidated in PDA 3-year rolling budget plan

8 additional District CRS

Farmer tracking begins

2017 5 30 1100 10 5 16 Update of PASP and District Needs Assessments

18 additional District CRS

Results Verification Survey begins

2018 10 30 1200 15 5 24 PASP formulated in 8 additional Provinces and 3-year rolling budget plan prepared

Mid-term impact survey

Extension Practitioner Survey 2

Technical Audit of infrastructure

2019 10 60 3000 20 10 16 8

2020 10 60 3000 20 10 8 8

2021 10 60 3000 20 10 8 Policy and capacity progress evaluation (2)

Final impact survey

Extension Practitioner Survey 3

Note

s

1 Cumulative numbers of activities. NB these numbers are indicative only – actual numbers will be determined through

the Provincial Sub-Programme planning process

2 Numbers of Performance Based Climate Resilience and Specific Project Climate Resilience grants in each year

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Annex to Appendix 6: MODEL FOR Provincial Performance Scorecard

Results and Impact

Weighting: 10%

Clients

Weighting: 25%

1. Total increased annual agricultural income for all farmers served in last 3 years

2. Total increased annual agricultural income for ID Poor farmers served in last 3 years

3. Cost efficiency - Total increased annual agricultural income of farmers served (Indicator 1)/ Total annual expenditure

4. [See if can use one main performance indicator from MAFF PB programme 1 so MAFF can see how it contributes]

1. Client satisfaction rating - % of farmers who have received service that are either satisfied or highly satisfied with the services

2. Total number of clients served in the year 3. Total number of ID poor clients served

Internal process

Weighting: 40%

Learning and development

Weighting: 25%

1. Use of non-direct delivery modalities such as PPP and contracting out [have an index for this and score based on number, sophistication and effectiveness of arrangements]

2. Effectiveness of client demand assessment and service delivery planning process [% of clients saying the services provided met their priority needs]

3. Quality of PADS - process for PADS is inclusive/strong

4. Coherence of actual activities with 3 year strategic budget plan

1. HR/staff capacity development indicators (To be defined - no. of professional training days?)

2. Agricultural action research / development activity & investment linked to Provincial Ag Development strategy (PADS)

3. [See if can use a main performance indicator from MAFF PB programme 5 (Capacity building) so MAFF can see how it contributes]

Weightings to be adjusted to 25% for all quadrants from Yr 3 of each provincial sub-programme.

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Appendix 6A: Communication strategy

69

Appendix 6A: Communications Strategy

A. Definition

An effective communications strategy will be integrated into the management of ASPIRE and 1.

into its components. The Communications Strategy will play a large part in ensuring the programme

achieves its outcomes. Specific inputs are planned by this communication strategy, targeting the

various levels of actors – in each of the components of the programme.

As a project supporting a programmatic approach to agriculture extension, ASPIRE is 2.

concerned with the production and sharing of knowledge. An inclusive, participatory approach is

fundamental to the ASPIRE design and this implies that wherever possible communication is a two-

way process. The ASPIRE Communications Strategy is concerned with those activities that contribute

directly to changing the perceptions of stakeholders concerning the purpose, scope, value and

delivery of extension activities. This definition does not include teaching and learning of agriculture,

marketing and related techniques that comprise “extension” itself and also the activities of data

collection and analysis that comprise monitoring and evaluation. However, there are no firm

boundaries between strategic communications thus defined and the technical communication that is

the content of extension. Broadly, the communications strategy supports the reform agenda of

ASPIRE by effecting a sustained change in understanding and hence of behaviour, at all levels from

policy makers, service providers within and outside the public sector, to the farmers themselves. The

communications strategy is integrated in all components and activities of ASPIRE and frequently

shares participants and techniques with the activities contributing to planning, delivery and results

measurement of extension services.

B. Purpose of the Communications Strategy

The communications strategy serves the Programme Development Objective of ASPIRE which 3.

is that by 2021 an enhanced Cambodian model of agriculture services has been demonstrated as

effective for assisting a diversity of smallholder farmers to contribute to broad-based economic growth

through profitable and resilient farm businesses and is adopted as policy. Supporting the “evidence

loop” by ensuring that the results achieved and the recommendations of policy analysis are effectively

communicated and understood, is a key purpose of the communication strategy. This will be achieved

not only directly by dissemination of information and recommendations, but more broadly by activities

that foster engagement and ownership amongst key decision-makers and a broader community of

stakeholders including Government officials, development partners, civil society and the private

sector. Improved communications will lead to better coordination between technical agencies

including the different agencies of MAFF that engage in or support extension and will foster attitude

change by supporting a better understanding of the role of each agency and the interactions between

them. The communications strategy will facilitate a sustainable improvement in the capacity to share

knowledge, both through developing institutions to support knowledge sharing and by introducing new

techniques including an increased use of information and communications technology (ICT) and

broadcast media.

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Figure 1: The Evidence Loop

C. Communications Methods

ASPIRE will use the following methods to communicate with stakeholders and enhance 4.

awareness and acceptance of its approach:

(a) Events including workshops, seminars and agriculture fairs / expositions that attract

participation of a broad range of stakeholders and provide an opportunity to raise

awareness of ASPIRE as well as to engage stakeholders in dialogue on specific issues;

(b) Publications including reports and policy briefs that present, in accessible format, key

knowledge products of ASPIRE;

(c) Dissemination of news and progress reports through a variety of media including a

website and facilitation of access by news journalists to ASPIRE activitites;

(d) Participation by ASPIRE representatives in events organised by other programmes and

agencies;

(e) Engagement with key opinion leaders and decision makers through personal

communications, membership of the ASPIRE Steering Committee and other bodies and

participation in ASPIRE activities.

D. Content of the Communications Strategy

For each of the outcomes of ASPIRE, the Communications Strategy defines the following 5.

parameters:

(a) The message content: i.e. what is to be communicated;

(b) The communication technique or techniques used;

(c) The target audience;

(d) Feedback arrangements: how the audience respond to and participate in

communications activities;

Communications

Results

Analysis

Sharing

Review

Consensus

Action

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(e) Resources: the specific inputs allocated to support communications. These inputs may

be exclusively concerned with supporting the communications strategy (e.g. a newsletter)

or may support strategic communications together with planning, technical learning or

other activities.

Figure 2: Contents of the Communications Strategy

OUTCOME 1: A national investment programme that can be supported by multiple 6.

donors is designed to implement an updated extension policy that provides smallholder

farmers with access to quality information services. At policy level, the communications strategy

will ensure that evidence-based policy analysis reaches key decision makers in digestible form, while

also facilitating broad engagement of stakeholders in the policy dialogue.

The key content to be communicated in support of Outcome 1 concerns the implications of 7.

different policy choices. Critically, this will include evidence on the effectiveness of different models of

extension service delivery in different contexts and in pursuit of different policy goals (e.g. increased

production, inclusive growth, climate resilience). This evidence will be derived from measurement of

the results of ASPIRE service delivery activities obtained from programme M&E, randomised

controlled trials (RCT) and piloting of innovations; but also from the comparative experience of other

extension programmes in Cambodia and internationally.

Communication of evidence for policy will be through a mixture of techniques including 8.

production of policy briefs targeted to meet the needs of key decision-makers, through dialogue in

policy forums and general workshops, and through events such as internal and external study tours

specifically designed to improve policy makers’ understanding of alternative options.

The key decision makers for policy, ultimately, are the senior leaders of government. However, 9.

the audience for evidence for policy is not limited to these key decision makers. ASPIRE will facilitate

policy formulation through dialogue and consensus with informed stakeholders within government

agencies, civil society and the private sector as well as with development partners. Communication

with a wide range of stakeholders including the general public forms part of the context in which policy

dialogue takes place.

ASPIRE will specifically support opportunities for dialogue on policy, most particularly through 10.

the annual Policy Forum and the (more limited) group of the ASPIRE Steering Committee, but also

through general participatory events throughout the programme components that will be opportunities

to present, discuss and receive feedback on policy options and recommendations.

Outcome Message

Technique

Audience

Feedback

Resources

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The key resources supporting communications for evidence-based policy include: 11.

(a) Meetings of the ASPIRE Steering Committee;

(b) The annual Policy Forum;

(c) Workshop and seminar events to discuss specific aspects of policy development;

(d) Ensuring that leaders and representatives of ASPIRE are well briefed and prepared to

represent ASPIRE in events organised by other programmes and agencies;

(e) Publication of policy study reports and policy briefs;

(f) Engagement of and dissemination of information to the general news media;

(g) Website publication and communications including the possibility for stakeholder

feedback;

(h) Study tours for key decision makers to study the effectiveness of different models of

extension delivery in Cambodia and regionally.

OUTCOME 2: MAFF has institutional and human resources capacity to manage an 12.

effective, demand driven system linking researchers and knowledge-based agencies to

extension agents in public sector, private sector and civil society and to farmers. At

Management level, the communications strategy will ensure efficient sharing of knowledge within the

Secretariat, the Extension Hub and between the various technical departments of MAFF to ensure

that appropriate and demand driven methodologies can be developed and scaled up for a program

based approach.

For outcome 2, improved capacity to communicate will be as important as the content of 13.

communications supported by ASPIRE. Communications will assist in sharing a diverse range of

information including the progress of programme activities, the plans and activities of different

agencies within and outside MAFF relating to the extension sub-sector, improved understanding of

farmer needs and market opportunities and the implications of global climate change. Most

importantly, the communications strategy aims to increase understanding and build consensus around

the objectives of ASPIRE and the policy choices that emerge from ASPIRE, thus facilitating change in

the behaviour and attitudes of service providers within and outside the public sector.

The audience for communications for capacity development constitutes the staff of public sector 14.

agencies concerned with extension but also the staff of academic institutions, private sector actors,

civil society and development partners.

Information will be communicated through a range of techniques including dialogue in the 15.

Extension and Research Advisory Board and in general workshops, events such as the annual

Agriculture Exhibitions and general publicity activities. ASPIRE will support and encourage increased

use of ICT for sharing of information between extension agencies.

The Extension and Research Advisory Board will be a key forum for dialogue between 16.

stakeholders at the senior technical level and representing the public sector, academia, civil society

and the private sector. Workshop events will also facilitate feedback as will opportunities for

stakeholder responses through the Extension Portal website.

In addition to supporting the Extension and Research Advisory Board, general workshop events 17.

and web-based dissemination and feedback, ASPIRE Component 2 includes budget for specific

communication activities including outreach through the national media, production of publicity

materials etc. These will also be integrated with the broadcast extension activities in Component 3.

ASPIRE will support international and national experts in knowledge management and in ICT and will

also support a journalist / media consultant who will be responsible to facilitate field visits and other

forms of communication with the national media. ASPIRE will support production of videos which will

have strategic as well as technical content and will fund investments in equipment for the Extension

Hub to support communications activities.

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73

OUTCOME 3: By 2021, at least 100,000 smallholders have improved and resilient farm 18.

businesses as a result of integrated, demand led extension services and investments in

climate resilient infrastructure.

Component 3 of ASPIRE is concerned with communication of specific knowledge on agriculture 19.

techniques and practices. To be used with full effect, this “technical” knowledge needs broader

changes in the in understanding, attitude and behaviour required for smallholders to make the

transition from production-driven agriculture prioritising basic foodstuffs for own consumption, to

planning and managing a sustainable and resilient farm business. This will include an improved

understanding of the operation of markets, the impacts of different investment decisions on net

income and risk, and the implications of global climate change. These messages will be integrated

with technical learning which will occur through a range of modalities including formal teaching,

farmer-to-farmer learning and an increased ability to access information from a variety of sources

including the Internet. ASPIRE will also support a pilot extension programme via radio and television.

The target audience for communication of strategic learning will be poor and vulnerable 20.

smallholder farmers, particularly those with some productive potential. This audience will be targeted

mainly by tailoring the message to suit its needs and encouraging participation, rather than by

selective targeting using wealth ranking or similar methods.

Farmers will be treated not as passive learners but as participants in the planning and 21.

implementation of learning activities. This will be achieved through creating opportunities for feedback

through traditional participatory methods as well as by increased use of ICT and surveys using IVRS

technology. Farmer representatives will participate in activities to assess the priority extension needs

of farmers and the most appropriate modalities of extension service delivery. The television extension

campaign will be accompanied by “mobile feedback teams” using a mixture of entertainment and

dialogue to encourage farmers to express their views on what they have learned.

In particular, ASPIRE will support establishment of local knowledge sharing networks facilitated 22.

by the Commune Extension Workers and linking smallholders to local skilled farmers, input sellers

and produce buyers and extension agents including village animal health workers. These local

networks will also leverage the media campaigns and the access of some members of the network,

including the CEW, to the Internet.

In addition to the field-based extension activities delivered by the DAO, through contracting-out 23.

arrangements and through public-private partnerships, ASPIRE will support the following

communications activities targeted to or closely supporting the beneficiary smallholders:

(a) Production and broadcast of two seasons (24 weekly shows each) of a television show

aimed at smallholder farmers and combining entertainment with information. These

television campaigns will be followed up by “mobile feedback shows” to allow farmers to

communicate their observations;

(b) Production and broadcast of three seasons (30 weekly shows each) of radio broadcasts;

(c) Dissemination of extension messages via the Extension Hub portal, with opportunities for

feedback. CEW will be trained and equipped with mobile devices to access this

information and to use it to assist farmers, as well as gradually introducing internet use

by the farmers themselves;

(d) Including a significant element of communications and knowledge management in the

terms of reference of the Provincial advisory teams, most likely by combining these tasks

with the M&E role. This will be supported by selection of candidates with suitable skills

and by provision of appropriate training.

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E. Coordination and Reporting

The activities contributing to the Communications Strategy are assigned to the different 24.

components of ASPIRE and some activities contribute to both technical learning and strategic

communications objectives. The ASPIRE Secretariat will be responsible to co-ordinate the

communications strategy and monitor and assess its effectiveness. Implementation of the

Communications Strategy will be a specific section of ASPIRE programme reports. The ASPIRE

Secretariat staff will include one full-time Communications Officer who will be responsible (1) to

ensure that the AWPB for each component adequately reflects the Communications Strategy;

(2) identify needs for capacity development for communications and design/implement activities

accordingly; (3) monitor implementation of activities contributing to the communications strategy and

(4) assist the Programme Manager in reporting on the results of the Communications strategy. The

Communications Officer will be assisted by the Senior Management Adviser (national).

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Appendix 7: Financial management and disbursement arrangements

75


A. Summary of Risk Assessment

During design, a Financial Management (FM) risk assessment has been completed in 1.

accordance with CFS guidelines. The assessment has been developed after visiting the MAFF

department of planning, NCDD, SNEC, MEF, the PDA of Kampong Chhnang, and the

Provincial Treasury of Kampong Chhnang.

MAFF will be the main ASPIRE implementing agency which will host the “ASPIRE Secretariat” 2.

(the programme central PIU). MAFF has a long experience with the management of IFAD

projects as currently executing three IFAD financed projects, RULIP, PADEE and TONLE-SAP.

While the first two projects are directly supervised by IFAD, for TONLE SAP the ADB is acting

as cooperating institution. In all these projects the PIU set-up followed a “ring fenced” approach

without any kind of reliance on national systems. ASPIRE design contains many innovative

elements never tested in Cambodia; the main ones are the intention to partially use the national

treasury system for funds flow and the alignment of ASPIRE activities to national programme

budgeting (PB) schemes. This will happen in phases; in the first phase (foundation) there will

be an alignment of programme budget activities with MAFF PB, in a second phase (proving)

there will be full integration in the MAFF PB and the third phase (scale-up) will follow a full PB

approach. Main issues to be addressed include the coordination among the different

implementing agencies from a financial management point of view (4 agencies at central level,

and from 5 to 10 PDAs and sub-national administrations). In addition to the coordination issue,

other weaknesses to be addressed are related to number and skills of staff, internal control

mechanisms, accounting and financial reporting, audit.

In order to address these serious weaknesses, the entire financial management practices and 3.

procedures of ASPIRE will have to be laid out clearly disclosing the overall ASPIRE staffing

needs and roles, establishing proper maintenance of accounts, use of software for both finance

and PB purposes, monitoring and review of the financial achievements against the budget

projections, internal controls, internal audit, capacity building of finance staff, financial reporting

and external audit by a chartered accountant firm.

The overall risk rating assigned at this stage is high before any mitigation measures are put in 4.

place; it decreases to medium with trend to high with the application of basic FM practices.

Despite the detailed design, the practical implementation still contain some risk elements.

Practical risk mitigation measures are specifically described in the following paragraphs; the

implementation of some of these will be considered as conditions precedent to withdrawal.

B. Implementation arrangements

MAFF will be the lead implementing agency. MAFF, through the ASPIRE Secretariat, will take 5.

responsibility for overall programme management, coordination and reporting while agencies

and line departments of MAFF (including GDA and PDAs) will undertake the majority of

technical work at national and sub-national levels. SNEC will undertake policy research and

analysis. NCDDS will be the implementing agency for Component 4. Provincial Sub-

Programmes will be implemented by the Provincial Departments of Agriculture (PDAs). District

Administrations will be the recipients of Climate Resilience Grants (from NCDDS) and will either

implement directly or through sub-grants to the Commune Councils. The Commune Councils

will contract Commune Extension Workers and play an important role in coordination and

monitoring of extension service delivery.

The finance unit of the ASPIRE Secretariat will be adequately staffed; in fact, in addition to the 6.

finance manager there will be an accountant, a finance advisor at central level and five finance

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76

advisors at provincial/PDA level, to support local finance units which appear to be particularly

weak. The internal control function will be further enhanced with an internal audit review to be

contracted annually to a private internal audit firm. Reports prepared, which will be inclusive of

recommendations and suggestions to enhance the internal control system, will be submitted to

the Steering Committee and forwarded to IFAD. Also the other implementing agencies will have

finance staff dedicated to ASPIRE; this has been confirmed from the visits to NCDD and SNEC.

However an extremely important role will be performed by the accounting software, which will

be set-up in all participating agencies, including PDAs, to allow smooth financial reporting to the

ASPIRE Secretariat which will consolidate data and will be the contact point for IFAD. There will

be substantial training associated to the deployment of the accounting software.

Part of component 1, component 2 and 3, which account for approximately 65% of programme 7.

finances, will be implemented within the MAFF PB framework with a gradual approach through

phases:

(a) Foundation, alignment to MAFF PB through cross referencing

(b) Proving, integration with the PB planning cycle. More discretion in budget use for PDAs

(c) Scale-up, full PB approach.

The move from a phase to the other will be decided upon assessment of performance and

readiness of the public system; additional details on the PFM in subsequent paragraphs.

Characteristic of the ASPIRE PB approach, is the integration of programme activities within the 8.

overall MAFF PB. This will happen gradually and starting from the “foundation” phase. During

the first phase there will be the set-up of a series of programme bank accounts at all levels, with

the ASPIRE Secretariat coordinating the overall programme FM function from budgeting to

accounting and reporting, funds flow, internal control and audit. In the case of component 4,

managed by NCDD which during the mission has been assessed as a solid and experienced

agency which is part of Ministry of Interior, the case will be different. In fact administrative

expenditures will be financed through its programme account, while to finance infrastructures at

provincial level will be used the national treasury system with the opening of specific accounts

in the provincial treasuries.

Proper set-up of audit TORs will be a key safeguard for all stakeholders. A single auditor will be 9.

hired for the annual audit of ASPIRE. In addition to IFAD usual requirements, TORs will include

visits to all implementing agencies at central and provincial level, review of relevant

documentation, physical verification of infrastructures built, sample interviews to participants to

extension trainings and people/companies awarded with grants.

C. Financial Management risk assessment

Inherent risks

The following review of Cambodia’s public financial management system builds on the findings 10.

of a series of assessments carried out recently by several international financial institutions,

more particularly:

(a) - Cambodia: Preparing the Strengthening of Public Financial Management for Rural

Development Projects (October 2008) from ADB;

(b) - Public Finance Management Assessment Based on the Public Expenditure Financial

Accountability Framework (Feb 2010) from MEF PFM Reform Programme;

(c) - Financial Management Capacity Assessment (July 2011) from IDA;

(d) - Cambodia PEFA, 2010.

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Public Financial Management Overall Performance. The Royal Government of Cambodia 11.

(RGC) initiated a comprehensive Public Financial Management Reform Programme (PFMRP)

with the full support of the Development Partners community. The overall objective of the

programme is the strengthening of the governance framework through enhanced public

financial management for effective service delivery. During Stage I of the programme,

significant progress was achieved in improving the overall FM fiduciary environment and the

budget credibility, while the target for the Stage II (which became effective in fiscal year 2008) is

to further improve the financial accountability through a series of measures, including

(i) improving lines of accountability, functions and responsibilities of public spending agencies at

national and sub-national levels; (ii) adoption of a new budget classification and new chart of

accounts; (iii) improved budget execution, accounting and financial management information

systems; (iv) improved statutory financial reporting and transparency; (v) improved external and

internal auditing and responsiveness to audit findings, and (vi) implementation of a fiscal

decentralization framework.

As noted by PADEE supervision mission (September 2013), the basic regulatory framework for 12.

public financial management is already in place, but its application at the ground (at line

ministries and sub-national level) is still not fully effective because of lack of capacity and

resources. More particularly, the internal control and fiduciary framework does not provide full

assurance of a regular, efficient and transparent use of public funds for the intended purposes –

to the extent that:

(a) Government accounts are kept on cash basis, in the absence of an integrated financial

management information system (FMIS);

(b) In the absence of a FMIS, there is no guarantee that the disclosed government financial

statements are comprehensive enough to inform on the true, fair financial position of the

public finance system;

(c) Salaries in the public sector are very low – a situation prone to corruption risks;

(d) Disbursement of planned budget appropriations in the form of a number of cash

advances (equal to 1/8 of approved budget) for payment of salaries and recurrent

expenditures (settled therefore in cash)

(e) The public procurement system does not completely satisfy the requirements of

transparency and efficiency

(f) Delivery of external aid “ring fenced” through dedicated programme management units –

leaving little room for an integrated planning of available resources.

As a result of the above mentioned shortcomings, the inherent fiduciary risk associated with the 13.

public financial management system is considered high.

The following table summarizes the features of the public finance management system, based 14.

on the Public Expenditure Financial Accountability Framework (PEFA) methodology:

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Criteria Assessment

Credibility of the

budget

PEFA score: B

The budget provides a fair indication of actual appropriations available to spending agencies thanks to greater predictability of revenues and reasonably good expenditure control;

However, predictability for each budget entity is low, with the variance in expenditure composition exceeding aggregate deviation by ten percent in recent years, partly reflecting allocations from the budgeted unallocated reserve/contingency item; credibility has, however, tended to be higher for priority sectors (education, health and agriculture);

Also, improved budget formulation process and the introduction of Budget Strategy Plans (BSP) as well as the gradual expansion of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and in-year cash flow planning have contributed to budget credibility.

Comprehensiveness

and transparency

PEFA score: C+

The existence of significant unreported extra-budgetary operations, and the non-transparency of many donor-funded projects, particularly grant-funded projects potentially undermine the budget credibility, especially in respect of the accurate budgeting for the recurrent cost implications of these projects;

Yet, there is no sufficient publicly disclosed information on the budget plans and budget execution – which impedes the ability of the citizens to demand accountability for the efficient use of public resources and judge;

Also, the large size of the Reserve Fund that comprises part of the budget (it has been usually over 10 percent of budgeted expenditure) and the way it is allocated during the fiscal year undermines transparency and reduce predictability of the budget.

Policy-based

Budgeting

PEFA score: C+

The main weakness in this respect is the insufficient integration of capital and

recurrent expenditures to the extent that sound linkages between the current

and capital budgets would enhance the credibility of the budget over the

medium term.

Predictability and

control in budget

execution

PEFA score: D

The Government is faced with key challenges in respect of (i) compliance issues regarding tax registration, declaration and collection; and (ii) internal control issues.

In particular, robust controls over public spending are still needed to minimize resource wastage (payroll and purchases of non-wage inputs), and - the internal audit function needs to be strengthened.

Accounting,

recording and

reporting

PEFA score: C-

Weak accounting, recording and reporting on budget execution resulted in flawed accountability and further undermined the credibility of the budget.

Non-existence of an FMIS to keep national accounts.

External Scrutiny

and audit

PEFA score: D

The external audit function is not playing a strong role in holding the executive branch of government to account;

The National Audit Authority (NAA) does not publish its reports (making it difficult for the public to know whether public funds are being spent according to their intended purpose).

Financial management capacity of MAFF. The following evaluation of the financial management 15.

capacity of MAFF and sub-national administrations (Districts and Communes) builds on the

conclusions of the capacity assessment carried out in the context of the “Community based

Agricultural Productivity Project64

– CBAPP” to determine whether MAFF structures have

adequate FM capacity and satisfy related fiduciary assurance requirements of the International

Financial Institutions. The fiduciary risk is still regarded as quite substantial at MAFF level

64

IDA Q7090-KH

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despite the improvements made in the overall public financial management environment in

Cambodia65

. Nevertheless, it should be noted that MAFF gained a long, sustained experience

in the management of externally financed projects to deal with the fiduciary risks along the

mitigation measures to be included in the programme financial management arrangements.

The table below summarizes the key strengths and weaknesses in respect of the financial 16.

management system as it is currently applied by MAFF:

Strengths • MAFF has a strategic vision and direction to guide the development of the agriculture sector and to “absorb” externally financed projects;

• MAFF has developed a working planning and budgeting procedures as well as an internal monitoring and evaluation system in the context of the emerging budget strategic plan (BSP) and programme budget (PB) framework;

• Dedicated planning and finance departments are staffed with skilled personnel to advise and support the operational departments in the planning and budgeting of their activities, and monitoring execution of the annual budget;

• Planning and operational staff are available in all departments of MAFF; many of them benefited from capacity building through donor-funded projects activities.

Weaknesses • The policy formulation process is not yet fully inclusive of all stakeholders and it remains heavily influenced by the respective agendas of donors; the current policy formulation process (Medium Term Expenditure Framework and BSP) needs to be further strengthened for the sake of better informed policy formulation and improved ownership;

• The annual planning process is not yet fully aligned with the established policy – the annual planning is reflective to a large extent of previous years’ priorities; also, in the absence of consistent set of policy performance indicators, contribution of activities to policy goals is hard to measure, and the effectiveness of activities difficult to assess;

• Annual Work Plans and Budgets of externally funded projects are rather static (built upon preceding annual plan) and do not take sufficient account of changing project implementation requirement and lessons learnt so far;

• The planning-budgeting function is fragmented within MAFF and carried out by separate Departments (Planning and Statistics in Department being in charge of the development budget formulation, while the Department of Accounting and Finance is responsible for the recurrent budget formulation); as a result, development plans, incorporating donor-funded activities, often do not account for operational budget constraints; and effective performance monitoring and evaluation is undermined;

• Planning, monitoring and evaluation capacity and skill levels are in need of further strengthening, especially in the areas of accounting and financial management, procurement, development of appropriate verifiable indicators and means of verification in monitoring and evaluation;

• There is no consistent human resource management policy: allocation of tasks is rather ad hoc; this situation is further compounded by inadequate remuneration levels and poor incentive arrangements, pushing many of the most qualified staff to leave (temporarily or then permanently) for the private sector, donor or NGO employment opportunities, and making it hard for the public sector in general to recruit and/or retrain skilled, competent personnel.

Furthermore, MAFF has a relatively large number of staff involved in finance, administration 17.

and planning. Many of these staffs have good academic qualifications but limited professional

experience in their specific area of work. As the rest of the Ministry’s workforce, financial

management staff members need further capacity development to improve their skills base and

65

According to IFAD requirements, the FM arrangements are acceptable if they: (i) are capable of correctly and

completely recording all transactions and balances relating to the project; (ii) facilitate the preparation of regular, timely

and reliable financial statements; (iii) safeguard the projects assets; and (iv) include acceptable auditing arrangements.

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80

leadership capabilities. Another aggravating factor is the low level remuneration of the civil

servants which acts as a major disincentive to attracting competent staff or retaining existing

staff that have the potential to perform well.

Financial management capacity in GDA, SNEC and NCDD. From the review of documents and 18.

interview with finance staff of SNEC and NCDD, the finance departments which will absorb

ASPIRE activities appears to be sufficiently solid, always considering the country context.

Programme budgeting practices in MAFF Since 2008 MAFF has been running the following 19.

5 programme budgets:

1. Enhancement of agricultural productivity and diversification

2. Increasing market access for agricultural products

3. Strengthening the institutional, legislative framework and human resources development

4. Sustainable management of fisheries resources

5. Sustainable management of forestry resources.

During the period 2009-2013, the share of programme-based budgeting in MAFF’s total 20.

resources was on average 15% (or 22% without the provincial departments) – a figure far

below the national average which is 30% (all 8 ministries participating in the programme

budgeting pilot). Programme 1 (agricultural productivity and diversification) absorbs almost half

(49.2%) of total PB resources, of which 8.33% are dedicated to the extension services.

The implementation of programme budgeting in MAFF is faced with a series of challenges that 21.

MEF and MAFF should address for the sake of improved effectiveness of, and accountability

for service delivery:

(a) PB are under-funded: resource allocation from the national budget for MAFF

programmes covers hardly 10% of needs (based on MAFF estimates in the BSP); as a

result, the geographic coverage and scope of activities are reduced in the same

proportion (for instance, not all provinces, or not all districts within a given province are

covered by the extension services during a given fiscal year);

(b) Lack of coordination/synergy between PB planning and external aid funded projects

(except in the Fisheries): there is no consistent consultation between PB managers and

externally funded projects during the budgeting process;

(c) Formulation of PB follows a top-down logic and is dictated by the resources constraint;

yet, MEF sets the funding ceiling for PB in an incremental manner (expressed as a %

increase of last year budget); as a result, programmes often replicate previous year

activities, without reassessing relevance and effectiveness of on-going sub-programmes

or activities for instance; hence, as they are now, PB seem to be a way of clustering

previous line items expenditures and not as a genuine expression of an articulated,

coherent, result-oriented programme of activities;

(d) PB cross department mandates: responsibility for a given programme is often shared by

more than one department – which does not allow for straightforward tracking of

accountability for performance back to a clearly identified party; furthermore,

accountability for results is further undermined by not including staffing, procurement and

capital costs under the control of PB holders;

(e) PB expenditures are settled in cash: while good practice requests the use of national

treasury system. Such arrangement might cause some fiduciary risks and lack of

transparency of transactions; anecdotal evidence suggests that “funds leakage” is

occurring along the disbursement-payment process because of cash payment procedure

and multiplication of parties involved in handling of funds;

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81

(f) Frequent liquidity “bottlenecks” affecting the public finance system (irregular release of

quarterly cash advances) are hampering proper implementation of PB activities, with

negative impact on seasonality-sensitive activities;

(g) Programme managers have no discretion over shifting resources between sub-

programmes or within the same sub-programme: current rules restrict them to conform to

the line-item costing (at activity level) specified in the PB document; and any deviation

requires due authorization from MAFF top management and/or MEF approval; as a

result, managers have no flexibility in responding to unforeseen events or correcting

misallocations at the budgeting stage;

(h) Programme managers have very little control over the procurement process (timing,

selection of contractors or suppliers, quality of goods or services supplied,..); as a result,

procurement is often done with delay and the quality of goods is also at question; this is a

critical issue as most of PB activities in the agriculture sector are seasonal, and if the

inputs (seeds or fertilizers) are not procured in time, they become useless;

(i) Low capacity combined with weak commitment of staff at all levels (central and sub-

national): salary levels act as disincentive to attract or retain qualified staffs (who tend to

work for external aid projects or NGOs).

However, despite the flaws in the formulation and implementation mentioned above the 22.

programme budgeting system has yielded some improvement in the quality of service delivery

– to the extent that:

(a) Programme budgeting modality allowed for linking the annual resource allocation

process (budget) to the medium term strategic planning (Budget Strategic Plan), and

hence, improving the allocative efficiency of public resources;

(b) Funding for service delivery is more predicable under the programme budgeting

modality: appropriations earmarked for PB within the Ministry’s budget are “insulated”

and, as such, cannot be diverted to other uses;

(c) Yet, the disbursement arrangement (appropriations being released to concerned

departments in quarterly cash advances) provided flexibility and predictability in the

implementation of planned activities in a timely, effective manner; indeed, PB

performance in term of actual implementation of activities is much better than non-PB

activities;

Control risks

Overall, ASPIRE will be operating in a rather high inherent risk environment due to weak public 23.

sector financial management systems, especially in the area of fiscal discipline and internal

control environment. The proposed financial management arrangements for the project

incorporate a number of measures intended to reduce such risks to acceptable levels and

ensure that (i) the project funds are used for intended purposes in an efficient and effective way,

(ii) reliable and timely financial reports are prepared, and (iii) project assets and resources are

safeguarded from unauthorized or wasteful use.

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Summary of FM risks and mitigating actions

Summary of Project Fiduciary Risk Assessment at Design

Initial Risk

Assessment Proposed Mitigation

Final Risk

Assessment

Inherent Risk

1. TI Index H

Index: 20 in 2013

(ranking 160 out of

177 surveyed

countries)

- H

2. RSP Score M

Score: 3.57 (2009)66

- M

Control Risks

1. Organization and Staffing H Adequate staffing of ASPIRE Secretariat with clear JD and accountability lines

Contracting Technical Advisers (FM and Procurement)

Comprehensive, user-friendly PIM

M

2. Budgeting M Use of unified AWPB across the Project

Coding of activities for ease of tracking

M

3. Funds flow and Disbursement

Arrangements

H Sound, rigorous cash flow planning

Rules for replenishment of project accounts

M

4. Internal Controls H Segregation of fiduciary-sensitive duties

Periodic reconciliation of bank accounts

Restricting access to accounting files and documents

Periodic count of inventories and fixed assets

M

5. Accounting Systems, Policies

& Procedures

H Use of same accounting software across the project

Back-up of accounting records

Use of registry of fixed assets

Training of project accountants and delivery of back-stopping

M

6. Reporting and monitoring H PIM to detail reporting and monitoring requirements and rules

Accounting to generate automated, consolidated financial reports

M

7. Internal Audit H Appointment of an experienced internal auditor company for annual reviews

Project management to act on internal audit findings and recommendations

M

8. External Audit M Appointment of an external auditor on the basis of TOR agreeable to IFAD

L

Project Fiduciary Risk @ Design H M

66

http://www.ifad.org/operations/pbas/

http://www.ifad.org/operations/pbas/

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83

After mitigation, the overall programme fiduciary risk decreases from High to Medium but with 24.

negative trend.

D. Financial Management and disbursement arrangements

Budgeting. In the first phase, the ASPIRE Secretariat will consolidate the annual work plan and 25.

budget (AWPB) considering input received from the various implementing agencies/partners

and aligning the overall set of planned PB activities to arrangements in place at MAFF. Non PB

activities, mainly with component 4 will follow the budget prepared by NCDD. In subsequent

phases, ASPIRE AWPB will increasingly rely on MAFF procedures for the set-up annual

budgets and PB within the multiyear strategy approved for MAFF. The AWPB will be subject to

the approval of the Steering Committee and submitted to IFAD for non-objection at least

2 months before the start of the fiscal year. Once approved, and pending the deployment of an

ERM system at MAFF, the annual budget shall be input in budget module of the accounting

software to allow systematic management and monitoring of it.

Disbursement arrangements and Flow of Funds. Consistent with ASPIRE institutional 26.

arrangements, the following agencies shall be involved in the implementation of the programme

activities, and as such, responsible for receiving and/or managing, accounting and reporting on

the use of funds:

(a) ASPIRE Secretariat, located within MAFF;

(b) Supreme National Economic Council (SNEC);

(c) National Committee for Sub-national Democratic Development Secretariat (NCDDS);

(d) General Directorate of Agriculture (GDA) at MAFF;

(e) Provincial Department of Agriculture (PDA).

The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and the ASPIRE Secretariat (MAFF) shall open 27.

and maintain in the National Bank of Cambodia the following Bank Accounts: (i) Two

Designated Accounts in USD to receive the IFAD Loan and IFAD/ASAP Grant proceeds from

the Loan and Grant Accounts maintained by IFAD; and (ii) One Account in USD to receive and

manage the Government Counterpart Fund for the Programme. As long as the integration

between ASPIRE and MAFF PB activities proceeds, the Government Counterpart account will

receive less funding with the reminder channelled to programme activities via increased

allocations under PB.

IFAD shall advance funds from the Loan and Grant Accounts to the Designated Loan and Grant 28.

Accounts based on an approved annual work plan and budget (AWPB) and cash flow

projection for six months planned activities. IFAD will provide advances for the six months

activities based on the approved AWPB. The Aspire Secretariat will transfer to all implementing

agencies six months budget. The release subsequent advances shall be based on the

justification of 50% of the last advance and 100% of all preceding advances. MEF shall transfer

the Government counterpart funds to the Counterpart Funds Account based on the same

AWPB on a six monthly basis.

MEF shall authorize the opening of the following USD Programme Accounts for the IFAD Loan 29.

and Grant proceeds:

(a) Four Programme Accounts at the National level for the loan, which will be maintained

and operated respectively by ASPIRE Secretariat, GDA, NCDD, SNEC.

(b) One Sub-National Programme Account for the loan for each of the Provincial

Departments of Agriculture participating in ASPIRE which will be used also to manage

grants awarded under component 3

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84

(c) Three programme accounts for ASAP maintained by ASPIRE Secretariat, SNEC and

GDA. One Sub-National Programme Account for the grant for each of the Provincial

Departments of Agriculture participating in ASPIRE;

MEF shall also authorize the opening of the following USD Programme Accounts for the 30.

Government Counterpart Fund proceeds:

(a) One Programme Account at the National Level (ASPIRE Secretariat);

(b) One Programme Account for GDA;

(c) One Sub-National Programme Account for each of the Provincial Departments of

Agriculture to be used initially.

All these accounts could be possibly phased out upon increased use of PB arrangements. 31.

ASPIRE Secretariat shall advance funds from the main Programme Accounts to the accounts of 32.

the Implementing Agencies (IAs), namely: SNEC, GDA, and PDAs based on the approved

annual work plan and budget (AWPB) and cash flow projection for the activities to be

undertaken during the coming six months. Funds for NCDD will be transferred directly from the

Designated Account at MEF upon request of the ASPIRE Programme Director.

SNEC, GDA and PDAs are the ultimate administrators of programme bank accounts; NCDD 33.

instead will open a programme account for operational expenditures, while the portion of funds

dedicated for infrastructure related activities at provincial level will be channelled through the

national treasury system, that NCDD is successfully using to implement other projects. Based

on the AWPB, NCDD will transfer required funding to the national treasury system. NCDD will

identify correct administrative methodologies to charge to RGC the tax element of expenses

channelled through the national treasury system, considering that such costs are ineligible

under IFAD financing. The implementation of larger grants will be assessed at mid-term review.

RGC contribution will flow directly from the RGC designated account to the ASPIRE Secretariat, 34.

GDA and PDAs programme accounts upon request from the Aspire Secretariat.

Accordingly, the flow of funds shall be as per the following diagram: 35.

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85

ASPIRE Secretariat shall submit withdrawal applications on a quarterly basis justifying the 36.

advances received based on expenditures reports submitted by the implementing agencies.

Such withdrawal applications shall be prepared in accordance with IFAD requirements with

SOEs thresholds fixed at USD 50 000 for all cost categories. All expenditures above the

established thresholds shall be accompanied by related supporting documentation, as well as

all expenditures of every amount related to contracts of value exceeding USD 50 000. The

Secretariat shall prepare and submit the withdrawal application to IFAD (through MEF) on a

timely basis within 15 days after the end of each quarter starting from the first quarter after the

first disbursement is made. Withdrawal application will be submitted to IFAD every quarter or

when the required amount is approximately USD 1 million minimum.

Internal controls. Procedures and record maintenance at all level have to be significantly 37.

strengthened by addressing the issues of non-availability of skilled finance staff, setting up of

internal controls, setting up of effective monitoring and review, introduction of accounting

software, preparation of a detailed section in the PIM on Financial Management with guidance

notes. The Advisors will play an important role in the overall process. The system of joint

Designated

Account

RGC

Designated

Account

IFAD Loan

Designated

Account

IFAD/ASAP

Grant

ASPIRE sec

Project acc.

RGC

ASPIRE Sec.

Project acc.

IFAD Loan

ASPIRE

Project acc.

IFAD/ASAP

Grant

SNEC

Project acc.

IFAD Loan

GDA

Project acc.

IFAD Loan

NCDD

Project acc.

IFAD Loan

PDA

Project acc.

RGC (x5)

PDA

Project acc.

IFAD Loan

(x5)

NCDD Central

Treasury acc.

IFAD Loan

Commune Sangkat

/District acc. at

provincial treasury

IFAD Loan in RIEL

SNEC Project

acc.

IFAD/ASAP

Grant

GDA Project

acc.

IFAD/ASAP

Grant

PDA Project

acc.

IFAD/ASAP

Grant (x5)

GDA

Project acc.

RGC

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86

signatory for operating the bank accounts or appropriate authorization processes will have to be

introduced. Detailed procedures for adequate recording, management and safeguard of

programme fixed assets will be disclosed in the PIM..

Accounting systems, policies, procedures and financial reporting. The financial 38.

accounting of the ASPIRE will be done through a computerised accounting software at all

levels, which will be customised to generate financial reports for RGC and for IFAD respecting

specific reporting requirements. The customisation will be in such a way to disclose funds use

by component, sub-component, cost category and each of the funding sources to be collated

through the software. Customization will also include reference to the RGC’s Chart of Account

(COA). Budgetary control at activity level to be incorporated, also considering the RGC’s

budget classification, pending the deployment of a national system for PB management. The

accounting software has to be customised to generate required financial statements and details

of the achievements from the system itself. Each implementing agency will submit Monthly

Financial Progress Reports to the ASPIRE Secretariat electronically. ASPIRE Secretariat will

consolidate data received and will be the entry contact point with IFAD. ASPIRE Secretariat will

prepare annual consolidated financial statements including data provided by all other

implementing agencies. ASPIRE Secretariat and the Implementing Agencies shall apply cash

basis accounting principles in accordance with the updated Standard Operating Procedures

(SOP) for externally financed projects/programmes in Cambodia, issued by MEF, as per Sub-

Decree No. 74 ANK. BK dated 22 May 2012, on the condition that these procedures are

adequately adjusted to accommodate any specific financial management requirements of

ASPIRE while taking into consideration local circumstances and capacities in respect of the

implementation of ASPIRE activities at sub-national level. With the increased use of PB, the

MAFF Department of Finance and Accounts will monitor RGC portion of ASPIRE expenditures

and will regularly report back to the ASPIRA Secretariat.

Internal Audit. As the ASPIRE Secretariat will be a part of the MAFF, it will be subject to the 39.

activities of the MAFF Internal Auditor Office. In order to have more specific support, ASPIRE

Secretariat on an annual basis will contract a private internal audit firm to perform internal

controls review, proposes improvements and issue recommendations. Implementation of such

recommendations shall be monitored during the following exercise. Main duties to be stipulated

in the TORs will include monitoring and review of the financial systems and procedures, their

application and adherence to the PIM, support the introduction of administrative efficiencies. It

would be a good practice to brief the appointed external auditors on the programme

components, methods of implementation, monitoring arrangements, etc so that they could

deliver the reports effectively. Reports prepared by the internal audit firm will be submitted to

the attention of the Steering Committee and forwarded to IFAD.

External Audit. Proper set-up of audit TORs will be a key safeguard for all stakeholders. A 40.

single private auditor will be hired for the annual audit of ASPIRE. In addition to IFAD usual

requirements, TORs will include visits to all implementing agencies at central and provincial

level, review of relevant documentation, physical verification on infrastructures built, sample

interviews to participants to extension trainings and people/companies awarded with grants.

The audit firm will be competitively selected through Quality and Cost Based Selection method 41.

of procurement with a weight age of 70:30 for quality and cost. The cost of the audit shall be

paid from the Programme proceeds. The firm shall audit the Programme’s consolidated annual

financial statements and operations, in accordance with International Standards on Auditing

complemented by terms of reference (TORs) acceptable to IFAD.

The auditor shall issue separate opinions covering the financial statements, statements of 42.

expenditures, management of designated accounts and programme bank accounts as well as a

management letter outlining any internal control weaknesses and recommended remedies;

more particularly, the auditor must ascertain that the information included in the annual financial

statements are correct, reliable, and present a true and fair description of the Programme

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financial position. The management letter will provide an update on the status of

implementation of audit recommendations issued in previous years.

The audited financial statements and audit report shall be submitted to IFAD within six months 43.

after the end of each fiscal year and by the Programme closing date. The implementation status

of the audit recommendations shall be provided by each Implementing Agency on a quarterly

report to be submitted to the ASPIRE Secretariat and forwarded to IFAD.

Taxes. The proceeds of the IFAD financing may not be used to pay taxes which will be part of 44.

the contribution of RGC to the programme. Social security benefits (employee’s portion) and

income tax (employee deductions) are eligible for financing.

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Appendix 8: Procurement

89


A. General Provisions

Procurement under the Programme shall be carried out in accordance with the revised 1.

Standard Operating Procedures applicable to externally funded projects (SOP, 2012) and other

government rules and procedures67

and as long they are consistent with IFAD Procurement

Guidelines and Procurement Handbook (September 2010), otherwise, IFAD procurement

Guidelines shall prevail. For each contract to be financed by IFAD proceeds, the types of

procurement methods, the need for pre or post-qualification, estimated cost, prior review

requirements and time-frame shall have to be agreed between the ASPIRE Secretariat and

IFAD in the Procurement Plan to be submitted by the Implementing Agencies. IFAD’s approval

of the procurement plan is mandatory and any changes or modifications must be

communicated and approved by IFAD.

As per IFAD’s Procurement Guidelines, IFAD review of and no objection to the Programme 2.

procurement plans shall be compulsory, and any changes and amendments to the procurement

plan shall be subject to IFAD’s No Objection; the plans submitted by ASPIRE Secretariat must

include as a minimum:

(a) A brief description of each procurement activity to be undertaken during the period and

name of the implementing agency responsible for the procurement;

(b) The estimate value of each procurement activity;

(c) The method of procurement to be adopted for each procurement activity and.;

(d) The method of review IFAD will undertake for each procurement activity indicating either

post review or prior review.

All procurement of goods, works and services financed from IFAD funds under the Programme 3.

shall require the use of proper bidding documents and the contracts to include a provision

requiring suppliers, contractors and consultants to permit IFAD to inspect their accounts,

records and other documents relating to the bid submission and contract performance, and to

have them audited, if any, by IFAD-appointed auditors.

Procurement of civil works should be undertaken in sizable bid packages ensuring works are 4.

not split to accommodate contractor’s financial capacities to qualify for the bidding or to

intentionally avoid seeking IFAD prior review. Any civil works which are to be split into small bid

packages due to specific implementation consideration must to clearly established and

highlighted in the procurement plan.

The Programme shall include a number of actions to strengthen procurement capacity of IAs 5.

and mitigate procurement risks. In terms of capacity, the programme shall recruit a

Procurement Adviser to provide procurement and fiduciary services to the programme

(including training) in addition to ASPIRE Secretariat Procurement Officer.

The design of the programme internal control framework shall include measures to address key 6.

control gaps existing within the current procurement process. The Procurement Advisor shall

support ASPIRE Secretariat and the implementing agencies in establishing these controls. Also,

the accounting system would incorporate a vendor and contract management system, which

will track contract performance and disbursement to vendors.

67

Such as those provided for in the procurement law (enacted in 2012), NCDDS Administration

and Financial Manual, and the regulations on the procurement by subnational administrations

(SNA).

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IFAD shall assess in due time the suitability of the procurement procedures of the District 7.

Administration and the Commune Councils for procurement of works or goods financed by the

Climate Resilient Infrastructure Grants (under Component 4 of ASPIRE).

B. Procurement Methods and Thresholds

The International Competitive Bidding (ICB) shall be the mandatory procurement method for the 8.

following activities (per contract) :

(a) Goods estimated to cost above USD 200,000

(b) Civil works estimated to cost above USD 1,000,000

(c) Services estimated to cost above USD 100,000

Procurement of goods and works shall be as per the following methods and thresholds: 9.

Type Procurement Method Threshold (USD)

Goods

National Competitive Bidding (NCB) 25,000 – 200,000

National shopping 3,000 – 25,000

Direct contracting Below 3,000

Works

National Competitive Bidding (NCB) 100,000 –

1,000,000

National shopping Less than 100,000

Consultants and Service Providers. Consulting service will include programme management 10.

technical assistance, implementation support technical assistance for different components,

conducting studies, mobilisation/establishment of community groups, technical training and

strengthening of community groups, and monitoring and evaluation. Services would be

provided by consulting firms and individual consultants.

Each contract for the selection of consultancy firms or service providers estimated to cost USD 11.

30,000 equivalent or above, shall be selected in accordance with the IFAD Procurement

Guidelines, following any one of the selection methods listed below:

(a) Quality and Cost Based Selection

(b) Fixed Budget Selection

(c) Least Cost Selection

Each contract for the selection of consultancy firms or services providers estimated to cost 12.

below USD 30,000 equivalent shall be selected in accordance with the IFAD Procurement

Guidelines, following any one of the selection methods listed below:

(a) Quality and Cost Based Selection

(b) Fixed Budget Selection

(c) Least Cost Selection

(d) Selection Based on Consultants Qualification

(e) Single Source Selection.

Individual consultants are selected on the basis of their qualifications for the assignment. 13.

They shall be selected through comparison of qualifications of at least three candidates among

those who have expressed interest in the assignment or have been approached directly by the

Programme Implementing Agency. They shall meet all relevant qualifications and shall be fully

capable of carrying out the assignment. Capability is judged on the basis of academic

background, experience and, as appropriate, knowledge of the local conditions, such as local

language, culture, administrative system, and government organization.

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Individuals may be selected on a sole-source basis with due justification in exceptional cases 14.

such as: (a) tasks that are a continuation of previous work that the consultant has carried out

and for which the consultant was selected competitively; (b) assignments lasting less than six

months; (c) emergency situations resulting from natural disasters; and (d) when the individual is

the only consultant qualified for the assignment.

C. Review of Procurement Decisions by IFAD

Prior or Post Review. Except as IFAD may otherwise agree, the prior or post review of 15.

procurement decisions of the programme Implementing Agencies shall be defined as follows:

Procurement Method Review

Method Comments

Procurement of Goods and Works

ICB Works Prior

ICB Goods Prior

NCB Works Prior Except procurement valued below USD 150,000

NCB Goods Prior Except procurement valued below USD 100,000

Shopping for works (quotations) Post

Shopping for goods (quotations) Post

Direct Works Post Except first contract in each district

Direct Goods Prior Except procurement valued below USD 5,000

Recruitment of Consulting Firms

Quality- and Cost-Based Selection

(QCBS) Prior Except procurement valued below USD 100,000

Fixed Budged Selection (FBS) Prior Except procurement valued below USD 100,000

Least Cost Selection (LCS) Prior Except procurement valued below USD 100,000

Selection Based of Consultants

Qualification Prior Except procurement valued below USD 60,000

Sole Source Selection (SSS) Prior Except procurement valued below USD 30,000

Recruitment of Individual Consultants

Individual Consultants Prior Except procurement valued below USD 30,000

For the purposes of IFAD’s Procurement Guidelines, the following procurement decisions shall 16.

be subject to prior review by the Fund for the award of any contract for goods, works estimated

to cost USD 100,000 and above and consultancy services estimated to cost USD 50,000 and

above:

(a) Procurement of goods and civil works:

(i) Prequalification documents and shortlist when prequalification is undertaken;

(ii) Bid Documents for goods and works;

(iii) Evaluation Reports and Recommendations for Award; and

(iv) Draft contracts and contract amendments.

(b) Procurement of consultancy services and other services:

(i) Prequalification documents and shortlist when prequalification is undertaken;

(ii) Request for Proposal (RFP);

(iii) Technical Evaluation Report;

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92

(iv) Combined (technical & financial) evaluation report and the recommendation for

award; and

(v) Contracts and contract amendments.

All direct contracts for goods and civil works and single source selection for service providers 17.

above the prescribed procurement and selection method thresholds shall be undertaken in

accordance with the provisions of IFAD Procurement Guidelines for direct contracting and

single source selection and subject to IFAD prior review.

The aforementioned thresholds may be modified by IFAD during the course of programme 18.

implementation.

All contracts, with or without prior IFAD approval, should be listed in the Register of Contracts 19.

with the dates of approval to facilitate the review and approval of payment requests on

contracts. The Register shall have to be updated and submitted to the IFAD Country

Programme Manager on a monthly basis.

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Appendix 9: Programme cost and financing

93


A. Main assumptions

Costs calculations are based on prices prevailing in Cambodia in December 2013.The base 1.

exchange rate for this analysis has been set at 4000 KHR to USD 1 as the average rate from

January to December 2014.Domestic consumer price inflation for the period 2015-21 has been

set at 5%, and international inflation at 1.6%, as per the Economist Intelligence Unit latest

estimates.

Expenditure accounts conform to the new standard categories of expenditures established by 2.

IFAD in August 2013. Expenditure accounts, physical and price contingencies and rates for

foreign exchange used in the analysis are shown in Table 2 below.

Physical contingencies apply to as follows: 5% on consultancies, 5% on equipment and 3.

materials, goods and services and vehicles, 5% on training and workshops, 0% on grant

& subsidies, 0% on vehicle (car) and 5% for all recurrent costs. Taxes are levied at 10% on all

goods and services, 0% for international consultant and 20% Vehicle procured through tax

exempted UNWEB buy.

B. Programme Costs

Total programme costs are of around USD 82.2 million over a seven-year implementation 4.

period and include USD 4.1 million of physical and price contingencies. Foreign exchange

accounts for about 10% of total programme costs, and duties & taxes make up approximately

USD 3 million. Funds allocated to the ASPIRE Secretariat are about USD 10.6 million or 13% of

the total Programme costs. The summary and detailed cost tables are provided in excel format.

C. Financing

An IFAD Loan of USD 26.1 million and an ASAP Grant of USD 15 million will finance a large 5.

share of the investment costs, except “workshop” expenditure category to be financed 100%

from the Government Contribution. The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3iE),

supported by a number of development partners and foundations, will provide financing for the

Randomized Control Trials to be implemented by IFPRI under component 1: Knowledge Based

Policy, and estimated at about USD 932,400. USAID will finance selected activities in

Component 2.2 estimated to cost USD 329,423.

There is a total of USD 12.5 millions of unfunded costs. As detailed in the Component 6.

descriptions, the majority of these unfunded costs are allocated to cover (1) expansion of the

Provincial Sub-Programmes to an additional 3 Provinces; (2) continuation of broadcast

extension activities through Phase 3 of the programme and (3) expansion of the Performance

Based Climate Resilience Grants to an additional 10 Districts. There are also two unfunded

technical advisor positions identified to support climate resilient agriculture in Component 2.

Government funding is estimated at USD 11.4 million in cash or about 14.5 % of total 7.

programme costs, of which 3 USD million represents taxes and duties to both investment and

recurrent costs. The government will co-finance all categories of expenditure including 28% of

salaries and allowances, 10% of equipment and materials, 27% of training, 18% of Grants for

Extension Services to Smallholders and 17% of Grants for Climate Resilient Productive

Infrastructure. The Government also contribute in kind 100% salaries of Government staff

seconded to the programme, and all programme Operating and Maintenance costs. In

conformity with the principle that no taxes or duties would be financed out of the proceeds of

the IFAD Loan / Grant, any future changes in the rates and/or structures of taxes and duties

that apply to the programme will be taken up by the Government.

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The following types of contributions in kind have been assumed in the cost tables: 8.

(1) beneficiary contribution of 7.3% or USD 5.8 Million in kinds for extension services under

Component 3; (2) Co-financing of infrastructure by the Commune Councils (2:1 ratio for

infrastructure financed by the PBCR Grants) of 8.89% or USD 7.2 Million; and (3) co-financing

of 50% of the costs of PPP activities by the private partners of USD 3 million.

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Table 1: Components Programme Cost Summary (USD)

Kingdom of Cambodia

Agriculture Services Project for Innovation, Resilience and Extension (ASPIRE) % % Total

Components Project Cost Summary (Local) (US$) Foreign Base

Local Foreign Total Local Foreign Total Exchange Costs

1. Evidence Based Policy Development 3,898,320,000 8,200,800,000 12,099,120,000 974,580 2,050,200 3,024,780 68 4

2. Capacity Development for Extension Services 16,004,000,000 8,829,000,000 24,833,000,000 4,001,000 2,207,250 6,208,250 36 8

3. Improved Extension Services 151,885,520,000 5,392,880,000 157,278,400,000 37,971,380 1,348,220 39,319,600 3 50

4. Infrastructure Supporting Climate Resilient Agriculture 82,336,560,000 1,271,240,000 83,607,800,000 20,584,140 317,810 20,901,950 2 27

5. ASPIRE Secretariat 26,213,904,000 8,361,680,000 34,575,584,000 6,553,476 2,090,420 8,643,896 24 11

Total BASELINE COSTS 280,338,304,000 32,055,600,000 312,393,904,000 70,084,576 8,013,900 78,098,476 10 100

Physical Contingencies 2,949,527,200 1,088,648,000 4,038,175,200 737,382 272,162 1,009,544 27 1

Price Contingencies 11,406,802,793 1,155,846,525 12,562,649,319 2,851,701 288,962 3,140,662 9 4

Total PROJECT COSTS 294,694,633,993 34,300,094,525 328,994,728,519 73,673,658 8,575,024 82,248,682 10 105

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Table 2: Expenditure Accounts Programme Cost Summary (USD)

Kingdom of Cambodia

Agriculture Services Project for Innovation, Resilience and Extension (ASPIRE) % % Total

Expenditure Accounts Project Cost Summary (Local) (US$) Foreign Base

Local Foreign Total Local Foreign Total Exchange Costs

I. Investment Costs

A. Consultant Natonal 21,559,600,000 - 21,559,600,000 5,389,900 - 5,389,900 - 7

B. Consultant Firm 3,337,000,000 3,337,000,000 6,674,000,000 834,250 834,250 1,668,500 50 2

C. Consultant 3IE - 3,729,600,000 3,729,600,000 - 932,400 932,400 100 1

D. Consultant International 1,984,800,000 17,863,200,000 19,848,000,000 496,200 4,465,800 4,962,000 90 6

E. Equipment and Material 260,800,000 2,347,200,000 2,608,000,000 65,200 586,800 652,000 90 1

F. Goods & Services & Inputs 16,180,400,000 - 16,180,400,000 4,045,100 - 4,045,100 - 5

G. Grants & Subsidies to PDA 127,898,400,000 - 127,898,400,000 31,974,600 - 31,974,600 - 41

H. Grants & Subsidies to GDA 6,120,000,000 - 6,120,000,000 1,530,000 - 1,530,000 - 2

I. Grants & Subsidies to CC 20,400,000,000 - 20,400,000,000 5,100,000 - 5,100,000 - 7

J. Grants & Subsidies to DA 27,200,000,000 - 27,200,000,000 6,800,000 - 6,800,000 - 9

K. Training 4,469,200,000 - 4,469,200,000 1,117,300 - 1,117,300 - 1

L. Motorcycle 335,400,000 3,018,600,000 3,354,000,000 83,850 754,650 838,500 90 1

M. Vehicle 440,000,000 1,760,000,000 2,200,000,000 110,000 440,000 550,000 80 1

N. Workshop 6,181,800,000 - 6,181,800,000 1,545,450 - 1,545,450 - 2

O. Works 28,944,000,000 - 28,944,000,000 7,236,000 - 7,236,000 - 9

Total Investment Costs 265,311,400,000 32,055,600,000 297,367,000,000 66,327,850 8,013,900 74,341,750 11 95

II. Recurrent Costs

A. Operating Cost 3,156,600,000 - 3,156,600,000 789,150 - 789,150 - 1

B. Salaries & Allow ances 11,870,304,000 - 11,870,304,000 2,967,576 - 2,967,576 - 4

Total Recurrent Costs 15,026,904,000 - 15,026,904,000 3,756,726 - 3,756,726 - 5

Total BASELINE COSTS 280,338,304,000 32,055,600,000 312,393,904,000 70,084,576 8,013,900 78,098,476 10 100

Physical Contingencies 2,949,527,200 1,088,648,000 4,038,175,200 737,382 272,162 1,009,544 27 1

Price Contingencies 11,406,802,793 1,155,846,525 12,562,649,319 2,851,701 288,962 3,140,662 9 4

Total PROJECT COSTS 294,694,633,993 34,300,094,525 328,994,728,519 73,673,658 8,575,024 82,248,682 10 105

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Table 3: Expenditure Accounts by Component – Totals Including Contingencies (USD)

Kingdom of Cambodia

Agriculture Services Project for Innovation, Resilience and Extension (ASPIRE) Capacity Infrastructure

Expenditure Accounts by Components - Base Costs Development Supporting

(US$) Evidence for Improved Climate Physical

Based Policy Extension Extension Resilient ASPIRE Contingencies

Development Services Services Agriculture Secretariat Total % Amount

I. Investment Costs

A. Consultant Natonal 291,600 1,249,600 93,000 384,200 3,371,500 5,389,900 4.8 257,905

B. Consultant Firm - 383,500 150,000 - 1,135,000 1,668,500 5.0 83,425

C. Consultant 3IE 932,400 - - - - 932,400 - -

D. Consultant International 1,222,000 2,149,000 - 285,000 1,306,000 4,962,000 3.8 186,600

E. Equipment and Material 20,000 46,000 306,800 26,400 252,800 652,000 4.5 29,105

F. Goods & Services & Inputs - 640,600 3,404,500 - - 4,045,100 2.5 102,255

G. Grants & Subsidies to PDA - - 31,974,600 - - 31,974,600 - -

H. Grants & Subsidies to GDA - - 1,530,000 - - 1,530,000 - -

I. Grants & Subsidies to CC - - - 5,100,000 - 5,100,000 - -

J. Grants & Subsidies to DA - - - 6,800,000 - 6,800,000 - -

K. Training - 764,300 228,000 - 125,000 1,117,300 5.0 55,415

L. Motorcycle - - 819,000 19,500 - 838,500 4.8 40,350

M. Vehicle - 50,000 325,000 25,000 150,000 550,000 - -

N. Workshop 370,000 595,250 138,200 302,000 140,000 1,545,450 4.7 72,673

O. Works - - - 7,236,000 - 7,236,000 - -

Total Investment Costs 2,836,000 5,878,250 38,969,100 20,178,100 6,480,300 74,341,750 1.1 827,728

II. Recurrent Costs

A. Operating Cost 47,150 92,600 315,500 141,100 192,800 789,150 4.8 37,998

B. Salaries & Allow ances 141,630 237,400 35,000 582,750 1,970,796 2,967,576 4.8 143,819

Total Recurrent Costs 188,780 330,000 350,500 723,850 2,163,596 3,756,726 4.8 181,816

Total BASELINE COSTS 3,024,780 6,208,250 39,319,600 20,901,950 8,643,896 78,098,476 1.3 1,009,544

Physical Contingencies 104,619 242,393 168,665 69,173 424,695 1,009,544 - -

Price Contingencies

Inflation

Local 184,660 689,147 313,458 245,443 1,418,992 2,851,701 - -

Foreign 63,099 30,034 61,897 12,771 121,161 288,962 - -

Subtotal Inflation 247,759 719,181 375,355 258,214 1,540,153 3,140,662 - -

Devaluation - - - - - - - -

Subtotal Price Contingencies 247,759 719,181 375,355 258,214 1,540,153 3,140,662 4.7 148,981

Total PROJECT COSTS 3,377,158 7,169,824 39,863,620 21,229,336 10,608,744 82,248,682 1.4 1,158,525

Taxes 244,476 722,022 669,428 211,854 1,075,994 2,923,774 4.0 115,852

Foreign Exchange 2,169,189 2,292,996 1,460,357 342,380 2,310,102 8,575,024 3.3 285,463

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Table 4: Programme Components by Year - Totals Including Contingencies (USD)

Totals Including Contingencies

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Total

1. Evidence Based Policy Development 490,430 465,268 502,721 534,470 680,321 346,316 357,632 3,377,158

2. Capacity Development for Extension Services 1,157,006 1,395,083 1,155,955 949,936 875,332 792,800 843,713 7,169,824

3. Improved Extension Services 598,788 2,474,328 3,338,089 5,620,648 9,735,205 9,170,221 8,926,342 39,863,620

4. Infrastructure Supporting Climate Resilient Agriculture 199,402 1,401,599 2,845,694 4,503,703 4,875,089 4,263,575 3,140,274 21,229,336

5. ASPIRE Secretariat 1,342,785 1,097,964 1,129,505 1,538,994 1,676,484 1,734,387 2,088,625 10,608,744

Total PROJECT COSTS 3,788,412 6,834,242 8,971,963 13,147,750 17,842,430 16,307,299 15,356,585 82,248,682

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Table 5: Expenditure Accounts by Years - Totals Including Contingencies (USD)

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Total

I. Investment Costs

A. Consultant Natonal 584,764 903,693 813,666 819,392 1,163,009 1,212,132 1,270,579 6,767,235

B. Consultant Firm 348,691 117,114 213,254 395,598 269,376 178,329 441,704 1,964,065

C. Consultant 3IE 188,000 75,500 157,300 185,900 325,700 - - 932,400

D. Consultant International 974,822 990,802 818,043 674,529 624,684 612,080 638,544 5,333,506

E. Equipment and Material 249,042 44,089 39,331 201,659 170,408 - - 704,529

F. Goods & Services & Inputs 105,688 794,886 835,817 748,037 660,223 644,256 649,469 4,438,375

G. Grants & Subsidies to PDA - 1,352,400 2,028,600 4,167,600 8,004,000 8,155,800 8,266,200 31,974,600

H. Grants & Subsidies to GDA - 180,000 270,000 360,000 360,000 360,000 - 1,530,000

I. Grants & Subsidies to CC - 400,000 1,000,000 1,700,000 1,300,000 700,000 - 5,100,000

J. Grants & Subsidies to DA - - - - 1,600,000 2,400,000 2,800,000 6,800,000

K. Training 298,511 227,482 209,547 191,369 142,069 136,810 143,651 1,349,440

L. Motorcycle 55,566 145,170 147,493 219,648 355,251 - - 923,128

M. Vehicle 352,800 - - 75,000 134,260 - - 562,060

N. Workshop 154,603 259,168 263,975 318,061 337,590 291,879 295,331 1,920,607

O. Works - 804,000 1,608,000 2,412,000 1,608,000 804,000 - 7,236,000

Total Investment Costs 3,312,487 6,294,303 8,405,027 12,468,794 17,054,570 15,495,287 14,505,477 77,535,945

II. Recurrent Costs

A. Operating Cost 79,804 105,774 111,063 130,145 190,446 185,868 194,796 997,896

B. Salaries & Allow ances 396,120 434,165 455,874 548,811 597,414 626,145 656,312 3,714,842

Total Recurrent Costs 475,924 539,939 566,936 678,957 787,860 812,012 851,108 4,712,737

Total PROJECT COSTS 3,788,412 6,834,242 8,971,963 13,147,750 17,842,430 16,307,299 15,356,585 82,248,682

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Table 6: Components by Financiers (USD)

LC

IFAD loan IFAD grant CFS 3iE UNFUNDED in Kinds USAID PPP Total Local (Excl. Duties &

Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % For. Exch. Taxes) Taxes

1. Evidence Based Policy

Development 796,986 23.6 - - 1,647,773 48.8 - - 932,400 27.6 - - - - - - - - 3,377,158 4.1 2,169,189 963,493 244,476

2. Capacity Development for

Extension Services 2,109,822 29.4 664,739 9.3 2,886,480 40.3 - - - - 1,179,360 16.4 - - 329,423 4.6 - - 7,169,824 8.7 2,292,996 4,154,805 722,022

3. Improved Extension Services 3,720,166 9.3 18,108,899 45.4 1,864,925 4.7 - - - - 7,365,030 18.5 5,792,500 14.5 - - 3,012,100 7.6 39,863,620 48.5 1,460,357 37,733,836 669,428

4. Infrastructure Supporting

Climate Resilient Agriculture 1,711,716 8.1 7,362,000 34.7 1,097,870 5.2 7,236,000 34.1 - - 3,821,750 18.0 - - - - - - 21,229,336 25.8 342,380 20,675,103 211,854

5. ASPIRE Secretariat 3,111,421 29.3 - - 7,497,322 70.7 - - - - - - - - - - - - 10,608,744 12.9 2,310,102 7,222,648 1,075,994

Total PROJECT COSTS 11,450,111 13.9 26,135,638 31.8 14,994,370 18.2 7,236,000 8.8 932,400 1.1 12,366,140 15.0 5,792,500 7.0 329,423 0.4 3,012,100 3.7 82,248,682 100.0 8,575,024 70,749,884 2,923,774

The Government

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Table 7: Expenditure Accounts by Financiers (USD)

LC

The Government IFAD loan IFAD grant CSF 3iE UNFUNDED in Kinds USAID PPP Total Local (Excl. Duties &

Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % For. Exch. Taxes) Taxes

I. Investment Costs

A. Consultant Natonal 2,225,622 32.9 - - 4,332,993 64.0 - - - - 208,620 3.1 - - - - - - 6,767,235 8.2 - 6,090,511 676,723

B. Consultant Firm 707,064 36.0 - - 1,257,002 64.0 - - - - - - - - - - - - 1,964,065 2.4 927,929 839,730 196,407

C. Consultant 3IE - - - - - - - - 932,400 100.0 - - - - - - - - 932,400 1.1 932,400 - -

D. Consultant International 567,822 10.6 - - 3,412,659 64.0 - - - - 1,107,000 20.8 - - 246,024 4.6 - - 5,333,506 6.5 4,800,155 - 533,351

E. Equipment and Material 70,770 10.0 - - 570,849 81.0 - - - - 62,910 8.9 - - - - - - 704,529 0.9 634,076 - 70,453

F. Goods & Services & Inputs 595,017 13.4 2,043,358 46.0 - - - - - - 1,800,000 40.6 - - - - - - 4,438,375 5.4 - 3,994,538 443,838

G. Grants & Subsidies to PDA 2,416,720 7.6 15,353,280 48.0 - - - - - - 5,400,000 16.9 5,792,500 18.1 - - 3,012,100 9.4 31,974,600 38.9 - 31,974,600 -

H. Grants & Subsidies to GDA 153,000 10.0 1,377,000 90.0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1,530,000 1.9 - 1,530,000 -

I. Grants & Subsidies to CC 385,200 7.6 3,214,800 63.0 - - - - - - 1,500,000 29.4 - - - - - - 5,100,000 6.2 - 5,100,000 -

J. Grants & Subsidies to DA 652,800 9.6 4,147,200 61.0 - - - - - - 2,000,000 29.4 - - - - - - 6,800,000 8.3 - 6,800,000 -

K. Training 367,030 27.2 - - 890,911 66.0 - - - - 8,100 0.6 - - 83,399 6.2 - - 1,349,440 1.6 - 1,214,496 134,944

L. Motorcycle 202,875 22.0 - - 691,904 75.0 - - - - 28,350 3.1 - - - - - - 923,128 1.1 830,816 - 92,313

M. Vehicle 114,360 20.3 - - 387,699 69.0 - - - - 60,000 10.7 - - - - - - 562,060 0.7 449,648 - 112,412

N. Workshop 1,837,807 95.7 - - - - - - - - 82,800 4.3 - - - - - - 1,920,607 2.3 - 1,728,546 192,061

O. Works - - - - - - 7,236,000 100.0 - - - - - - - - - - 7,236,000 8.8 - 7,236,000 -

Total Investment Costs 10,296,086 13.3 26,135,638 33.7 11,544,018 14.9 7,236,000 9.3 932,400 1.2 12,257,780 15.8 5,792,500 7.5 329,423 0.4 3,012,100 3.9 77,535,945 94.3 8,575,024 66,508,421 2,452,500

II. Recurrent Costs

A. Operating Cost 123,038 12.3 - - 848,577 85.0 - - - - 26,280 2.6 - - - - - - 997,896 1.2 - 898,106 99,790

B. Salaries & Allow ances 1,030,987 27.8 - - 2,601,775 70.0 - - - - 82,080 2.2 - - - - - - 3,714,842 4.5 - 3,343,357 371,484

Total Recurrent Costs 1,154,025 24.5 - - 3,450,352 73.2 - - - - 108,360 2.3 - - - - - - 4,712,737 5.7 - 4,241,464 471,274

Total PROJECT COSTS 11,450,111 13.9 26,135,638 31.8 14,994,370 18.2 7,236,000 8.8 932,400 1.1 12,366,140 15.0 5,792,500 7.0 329,423 0.4 3,012,100 3.7 82,248,682 100.0 8,575,024 70,749,884 2,923,774

Kingdom of Cambodia



Appendix 10: Economic and financial analysis

103

Appendix 10: Economic and Financial Analysis

A. FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

ASPIRE proposes the use of three comparative models of extension to respond to farmer’s 1.

training needs and demand for technical assistance. Several crop budgets and production

models have been prepared to illustrate the potential benefits expected from each type of

extension services.

Model 1: Public extension services, to be delivered by the District Agriculture Office (DAO) 2.

through an improved PADEE Farmers Field School (FFS) approach and a Farmer to Farmer

Learning Network. This model is expected to reach about 45,000 poor and medium poor

farmers in the ASPIRE pilot provinces, by providing 3-year learning and support programme to

about 1,800 Smallholder Learning Groups (SLGs) of 25 farmers each in the 30 pilot districts.

Additional 22,500 farmers would be reached within the PADEE provinces from 2018 to 2021.

Subject to project performance and successful mobilization of the necessary resources,

ASPIRE may be able to expand to 3 further provinces after Mid-Term Review, in which case the

total number of farmers reached though FFSs would add up to 81,000.

Table 1: Number of Beneficiaries Assumed in Analysis

Provinces Pilot Provinces

PADEE Provinces

Total for 10 Provinces scenario

3 Additional Provinces

13 (Pilot + PADEE + expansion post MTR)

Districts 30 15 45 9 54

SLGs 1,800 900 2,700 540 3,240

Farmers reached through FFSs (25 per SLG on average)

45,000 22,500 67,500 13,500 81,000

PPPs* 15,000 7,500 22,500 4,500 27,000

Contracting out model** 20,000 10,000 30,000 6,000 36,000

Climate resilient infrastructure *** 33,000 17,000 50,000 20,000 70,000

* 50% of which are also beneficiaries of ASPIRE extension services

Total number of beneficiaries 96,500 48,500 145,000 34,000 179,000

* 3,000 farmers in each pilot province and 1,500 farmers in each expansion province

** 4,000 farmers in each pilot province and 2,000 farmers in each expansion province. 25% in special needs category

*** assumes beneficiaries will benefit from both PBG and SPG

Each SLG will participate in three training modules over three years, that will typically address 3.

improved farmer agronomic practices in rice and vegetable cultivation, climate change

adaptation techniques (such as SRI) and small livestock production (mainly pig and poultry). For

paddy production, three crop budgets have been developed to account for the adoption of SRI,

wet season double cropping, and ICPM practices. For vegetable production, seven crop

budgets show the impact of more efficient input use on irrigated and non-irrigated crops. Two

small livestock models illustrate incremental benefits of improved animal husbandry. Expected

increases in yields, gross margins and returns to labour derived from the application of these

techniques are shown in the tables below.

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Table 2: Farmer Field Schools - Expected benefits from improved rice cultivation techniques

(USD/Ha)

SRI Double Cropping Rice ICPM

Without Project With Project Without Project

With Project

Without Project With Project

Dry Wet Dry Wet Wet Wet Dry Wet Dry Wet

Yield (kg/ha) 3,000 2,000 3,450 2,518 2,000 4,400 3,000 2,000 3,750 2,500

Value of production * (USD/ha) 626 614 720 770 614 1,350 626 614 783 767

Inputs costs (USD/ha) 234 115 172 73 115 291 233 114 300 165

Gross margin (USD/ha) 392 499 548 697 499 1,059 393 499 482 602

Hired Labour (p-d/ha) 30 35 75 56 35 70 30 35 30 35

Gross margin (incl. hired labour) 311 402 343 545 402 866 311 403 400 505

Family Labour (p-d/ha) 50 50 50 50 50 106 50 50 50 50

Return to family labour (USD/p-d) 6 8 7 11 8 8 6 8 8 10

Net incremental Income (USD) - - 33 142

463

90 103

* Including by-products

Table 3: Farmer Field Schools - Expected benefits from improved vegetable cultivation

techniques (USD/ha)

MAIZE-U MAIZE-I CASSAVA-U MUNGBEAN-U LONGBEAN-I CUCUMBER-I WATERMELON-I

WoP WP WoP WP WoP WP WoP WP WoP WP WoP WP WoP WP

Yield (T/ha) 2 2.2 3 3.3 9 9.9 0.5 0.55 6 6,6 8 8.8 10 11

Value of production * (USD/ha)

303 333 454 499 446 491 260 286 1,190 1,309 992 1,091 1,116 1,227

Inputs costs (USD/ha) 89 87 231 232 56 56 89 87 429 424 362 363 362 363

Gross margin (USD/ha) 214 246 222 267 390 435 172 200 761 885 630 728 754 864

Hired Labour (p-d/ha) 33 33 50 50 35 35 20 20 70 70 100 100 80 80

Gross margin (incl. hired labour)

124 157 89 133 296 341 117 145 578 702 350 448 538 649

Family Labour (p-d/ha) 42 42 50 50 35 35 40 40 45 45 45 45 65 65

Return to family labour (USD/p-d)

3 4 2 3 8 10 3 4 13 16 8 10 8 10

Net incremental Income (USD)

- 33 45 45 28 124 98 111

Table 4: Farmer Field Schools - Expected benefits from improved animal husbandry

(USD/household)

Pig Production Poulty Production

Without Project With Project * Without Project With Project *

Value of production (USD/year) 87 160 58 129

Inputs costs (USD/year) 61 95 22 44

Gross margin (USD/year) 27 65 35 85

Hired Labour (p-d/ha) 0 0 0 0

Gross margin (incl. hired labour)(USD/year) 27 65 35 85

Family Labour (p-d/ha) 12 16 23 20

Return to family labour (USD/year) 2 4 2 4

Net incremental Income(USD/year) 38 49

* full production yr 2

Model 2: Public Private Partnerships, that can include a variety of arrangements between 4.

input sellers, private companies, NGOs and the private sector. It will primarily target better-off

farmers with strong links to market, but is also expected to reach a high proportion of poorer

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farmers, that will benefit from specific advice on agriculture techniques and more efficient use of

inputs, resulting in high increases in productivity. Each pilot province will be required to engage

in at least one PPP arrangement per year during the first two years of programme support, with

at least 1,000 farmers per PPP as the ultimate beneficiaries For purpose of the economic

analysis, it is assumed that the final number of less poor and poor farmers benefitting from this

model will be 22,500 in the pilot provinces, 7,500 in the PADEE provinces and a further 4,500

potentially in the 3 additional expansion provinces (Table 1). The rate of output will scale up

reach a maximum by the end of the project. This model is expected to promote a rather

intensive use of inputs and therefore the ‘with project’ situation assumes higher productivity

increases that the FFS for the same crop models. Results are shown below.

Table 5: PPPs - Expected benefits from improved rice cultivation techniques (USD/Ha)

Rice

Without Project With Project

Dry Wet Dry Wet

Yield (kg/ha) 3,500 2,500 4,375 3,125

Price (USD/kg) 0 0 0 0

Value of production * (USD/ha) 731 769 914 961

Inputs costs (USD/ha) 272 145 366 212

Gross margin (USD/ha) 460 623 548 748

Hired Labour (p-d/ha) 40 60 40 60

Gross margin (incl. hired labour) 348 457 437 582

Family Labour (p-d/ha) 50 40 50 40

Return to family labour (USD/p-d) 7 11 9 15

Net incremental Income (USD) 89 125


Table 6: PPPs - Expected benefits from improved vegetable cultivation techniques (USD/ha)

MAIZE-U MAIZE-I CASSAVA-U MUNGBEAN-

U LONGBEAN-I CUCUMBER-I WATERMELON-I

WoP

WP WoP WP WoP WP WoP WP WoP WP WoP WP WoP WP

Yield (T/ha) 2 2.4 3 3.75 9 11.25 0.5 0.65 6 6.9 8 9.6 10 11.5

Value of production * (USD/ha)

303 364 454 567 446 558 260 338 1,190 1,369 992 1,190 1,116 1,283

Inputs costs (USD/ha) 89 115 216 274 56 86 89 128 429 450 362 383 362 413

Gross margin (USD/ha) 85 249 237 293 390 472 172 210 761 919 630 807 754 870

Hired Labour (p-d/ha) 33 33 50 50 35 35 20 30 70 70 100 100 80 80

Gross margin (incl. hired labour)

124 160 103 159 296 378 117 128 578 735 350 527 538 655

Family Labour (p-d/ha) 42 47 50 55 35 40 40 40 45 50 45 50 65 75

Return to family labour (USD/p-d)

3 3 2 3 8 9 3 3 13 15 8 11 8 9

Net incremental Income (USD)

35 56 82 11 157 177 117


Model 3: Contracting out model, designed to provide specialist types of training. Most 5.

contracting out activities will involve broadly similar beneficiaries and technology to the public

extension models, i.e. poor and vulnerable farmers, but will be used in case of:

(i) demonstration of specific best practices; (ii) increase of capacity beyond what can be

accomplished with the PDA/DAO human resources; (iii) transfer of specific technologies that

PDA do not have capacity for and (iv) targeting of groups with special needs which would

include the beneficiaries of social land concessions. The number of beneficiaries of contracting

out in the pilot provinces is expected to be 20,000. It is assumed that there will be a further

10,000 beneficiaries in the PADEE provinces and a further 6,000 in three additional provinces,

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giving a total of 36,000 beneficiaries. Twenty-five percent (25%), or 9,000 households, would fall

into the special needs category. Incremental benefits for this models are comparable to those

presented in tables 1 to 3.

B. SMALL PRODUCER MODELS

Seven small producer models have been prepared: 6.

Small Producer Models FFS: 7.

(a) FFSs small producer model 1 shows a very poor farmer, with average land size of

0.4 ha, not irrigated. This producer could benefit from 162 USD incremental net income

per year with the adoption of new cassava and rice cultivation technology (traditional

practices to SRI), combined with increased cropping intensity and improved animal

husbandry.

(b) FFS small producer model 2 presents a medium poor farmer, with 0.7 ha in average

and access to irrigation, that can generate 378 USD additional net income by switching

from one crop of wet season rice plus longbean and irrigated maize in the dry season, to

double cropping of rice in the wet season and increased vegetable productivity.

(c) FFS small producer model 3 illustrates a medium-poor farmer, with 1.2 irrigated

hectares, that obtains 216 USD net incremental income by applying ICPM techniques to

one crop of dry and wet season rice, cucumber, watermelon and mungbean.

Small Producer Models PPPs: 8.

(a) The three small producer models for the PPP scheme assume higher and more efficient

use of inputs that result in increased productivity, averaging 25% for wet and dry rice

crops and ranging from 15% to 25% for vegetables.

(b) PPP small producer model 1: characterizes a medium poor farmer, with 0.8 irrigated ha,

that obtains and annual net income increase of 180 USD, mainly from dry season rice

(64 USD) and wet season rice (90 USD), in addition to cassava and longbean productivity

increases.

(c) PPP small producer model 2 shows a similar farmer to model 1 (0.8 irrigated ha) that

benefits from 321 USD additional income by producing only dry and wet season rice.

(d) PPP small producer model 3 exemplifies a better off farmer with 2.1 has of irrigated rice

and maize that obtains the highest incremental net benefits, 391 USD per year.

Contracting out model: It is assumed that most of the beneficiaries of the contracting out model 9.

(about 75%) will be poor and vulnerable farmers with similar characteristics to FFS small

producer model 1, whereas the rest will be farmers with special needs. Social Land Concession

farmers are used as a proxy for the latter, assuming a low level of production before the training,

and 523 USD annual net benefits as a result of increased cropping intensity (from 50% to

100%) for 2 ha of somewhat unproductive land, combined with improved animal husbandry.

More details on increases in incomes and returns to family labour for the small producer models 10.

can be found in the annexed excel files.

C. INFRASTRUCTURE MODELS

Districts with a high level of climate vulnerability will benefit from a Climate Resilience 11.

Infrastructure Fund, that will support investments by sub-national governments at District and /

or Commune level through two types grants:(i) a Performance Based Climate Resilience Grant

(PBCRG) which will be an annual allocation to each participating District (three annual

allocations per district); (ii) a Specific Project Climate Resilience Grant (SPCRG) suitable for

financing of larger sub-project (one grant for district that demonstrate good performance in

implementing PBCRG financed activities). The IFAD Loan and RGC contributions would finance

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these grants in 24 districts within the five ASPIRE pilot provinces and the PADEE provinces,

with the intention of mobilizing financing for 10 additional Districts in 3 additional provinces.

The Grants can be used to: (i) climate proof existing productive infrastructure (market roads, 12.

small and medium scale irrigation systems etc.), in which case the Fund will provide up to 33%

contribution to the overall cost, or to (ii) construct or rehabilitate infrastructure for climate

resilience (principally be water management infrastructure for irrigation or domestic water

supplies), for which the Fund would finance up to 90% of the total cost. It is envisaged that

about 50,000 households will directly benefit from climate resilient infrastructure investments (or

70,000 if the model is expanded to 13 provinces).

Two infrastructure models have been made to illustrate both type of investment modalities: 13.

repair of an earth dam (climate proofing existing infrastructure) and construction of a pumped

intake and 1km of irrigation canal (construction of infrastructure for climate resilience)68

.

The first model shows the potential benefits that would accrue from repairing an earth dam to 14.

enclosing a 1 square kilometre reservoir on 3 sides, that would provide wet season irrigation,

enabling farmers to grow two wet season crops. Total investment costs are around 50,000 USD

including project design and supervision. O&M will be contributed by the beneficiaries, about

143 household with an average 0.70 has of rice cultivated land. The Economic Internal Rate of

Return for this investment is 36%, and Net Present Value is 138,773 USD.

The second model illustrates the benefits that would arise from constructing a pumped intake 15.

and 1 kilometre of main canal, providing irrigation for two dry season irrigated rice crops for

about 250 poor families with an average of 0.4 has of land per household, in a total area of

100 has. Overall costs are 125,000 USD, EIRR 32%, and NPV of the investment 48,987 USD.

The switching value method applied to test the robustness of two types of investments show 16.

that none of the models are sensitive to decreases in benefits, increases in costs, or to delays in

benefits.

Table 7: Infrastructure models – Economic results (USD)

Estimated Investment Costs (USD)

Annual Net

Benefits

Incremental annual net

benefits per 1USD

of investment

(USD)

EIRR NPV

IFAD Loan Local

Government Total

% USD % USD USD % USD

Repair earth dam enclosing 1 square km reservoir on 3 sides

33% 33,000 67% 67,000 100,000 42,099 0.42 36% 138,773

Construct pumped intake and 1km of main canal

90% 39,150 10% 4,350 43,500 16,329 0.38 32% 48,987

Table 8: Infrastructure models – Switching values

Model/Switching values Incremental Revenues (inflows)

Incremental Recurrent

Costs Incremental Investments

Incremental Outflows

Repair earth dam enclosing 1 square km reservoir on 3 sides

-51% 421% 135% 102%

Construct pumped intake and 1km of main canal

-45% 341% 110% 83%

68

Costs for these models are based on rehabilitating tertiary and small-scale irrigation infrastructure, to reflect the fact

that national Government in Cambodia usually invests in major works but not in the necessary distribution systems.

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D. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS AND SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS

Main assumptions

Scenarios: two different scenarios have been considered for the calculation of the overall 17.

economic analysis of the programme. Scenario one assumes expansion from the pilot

provinces into 5 additional provinces in 2018 (PADEE provinces) using the resources available

(no funding gap), whereas scenario two assumes that enough resources are mobilized to

enable expansion to a total of 8 provinces (PADEE provinces + three further provinces to be

identified at Mid-Term Review). Benefit and cost streams for each option have been estimated

separately in order to calculate the respective NPV, EIRR and sensitivity analyses.

Period of analysis: a fifteen year period of analysis has been assumed for the economic 18.

analysis, which includes the seven year project implementation period.

Benefit stream: the analysis identifies quantifiable benefits directly related to the project 19.

activities, taking into account benefits from the three models of extension and climate resilient

infrastructure fund, as well as assumptions on number and phasing of beneficiaries described in

section one of this Appendix and in the “Economic Analysis” page of the annexed excel files.

Given the complexity of the project and a number of implementations risks that could prevent

the full achievement of the project objectives, a 75% success rate has been applied to the

cumulative stream of benefits.

Costs stream: economic costs are net of duties, taxes and price contingencies, but inclusive of 20.

physical contingencies. O&M costs for infrastructure have been counted in the calculation of the

net incremental benefits of individual infrastructure models. The total economic costs of the

project amount to about USD 64 million (for 10 provinces) or USD 76.5 million (including a

funding gap to expand to 3 further provinces). Project costs include beneficiary contributions,

calculated as an opportunity cost of 2.5$/day per farmer participating in FFFs.

Shadow prices: due to free trade, absence of taxes or duties on agricultural inputs or outputs 21.

and competitive markets in trade of agricultural commodities and inputs within the country, it is

estimated that overall economic prices of the main traded commodities and inputs closely mirror

financial prices. Export parity prices for rice and maize have however been calculated, as have

import parity prices for DAP and urea. A standard conversion factor of 0.71 (equal to the one

derived for DAP import parity price) has been used for other traded inputs (herbicides, etc.).

Labour: the shadow wage rate is assumed to be 90% of the financial labour wage rate used, 22.

i.e. around KHR 9,000 for women and KHR 10,800 for men. This is quite conservative given the

high underemployment in many of the project areas and among the project target group.

Discount rate is estimated at 12%. 23.

Results of the analysis

Overall Estimated Return of the Proposed Project: the economic analyses show a 24.

satisfactory Economic Internal Rate of Return of 15% for either scenario, along with net present

values of USD 6.3 million for 10 provinces and USD 6.5 million for 13 provinces. Main benefits

accrue from the PPP model, followed by the public extension services, the contracting out

model and the climate resilient infrastructure fund.

Sensitivity Analysis: a sensitivity analysis assessed the effect of variations in benefits and 25.

costs and for various lags in the realisation of benefits in both scenarios.. In scenario 1, fall in

total project benefits by 30% and an increase in total project costs by the same proportion would

reduce the base EIRR to about 10% and 8%, respectively. The switching value for decrease of

total project benefits is about -20%, while for increase of project costs it is approximately 15%. A

one-year delay in project benefits reduces the EIRR to 12%. With a two-year delay in project

benefits, the EIRR falls to approximately 8%.The alternative scenario with funding gap shows

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very similar results in terms of sensitivity to unexpected cost increases or underachievement of

the anticipated benefits.

Comment

The economic analysis reported above considers only tangible benefits arising from 26.

Component 3.1 (Provincial sub-programmes) and Component 4 (climate resilient infrastructure).

Additional intangible benefits are expected from Component 1 (policy), Component 2 (capacity

development), Component 3.2 (innovations) and Component 3.3 (mass media extension) which

together represent 16% of the total programme cost. With the partial exception of some capacity

development activities under Component 2.1, these intangible benefits are independent of and

additional to the tangible benefits counted in the analysis and are expected, through improved

national systems, capacity and knowledge and through direct outreach to farmers via mass

media, to provide benefits to a much larger number of farmers in the ASPIRE target group,

although the size of these benefits cannot be realistically estimated. This point should be taken

into consideration in interpreting the result of the analysis which shows a relatively small but

positive net present value for the programme as a whole.

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Table 9: Scenario one with 10 provinces - Economic Analysis – Costs and Benefits Stream (USD)

Table 10: Scenario one with 10 provinces - Sensitivity Analysis and Switching Values (USD)

Sensitivity Analysis ( 15-year period)

Base case Costs Increase Increase of Benefits Decrease of Benefits Delay of Benefits

+10% +20% +30% +10% +20% -10% -20% - 30% 1 year 2 years

IRR 15.2% 13% 11% 10% 17% 19% 13% 11% 8% 12% 8%

NPV (USD) 6,324,802 2,460,935 -

1,402,932 -

5,266,799 10,821,149 15,317,496 1,828,455 -

2,667,892 -

7,164,239 -976,765 -7,496,022

Discount rate 12%

Switching values NPV incremental benefits 31,366,309 25,041,508 -20%

NPV incremental investment cost 41,766,590 48,091,391 15%

Project Economic Analysis 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 to 2029

Incremental net benefits per activity

FFS USD 0 0 0 0 0 1,205,444 3,214,517 4,419,961 7,232,663

PPPs USD 0 0 658,233 1,974,699 3,949,398 6,911,446 10,860,844 10,860,844 10,860,844

Contracting out model USD 0 0 0 0 180,709 361,418 722,836 1,264,964 1,987,800

Climate Resilient Infrastructure USD 0 0 0 159,274 318,548 477,822 382,258 222,984 222,984

Total cumulative incremental benefits ASPIREUSD 0 0 658,233 2,133,973 4,448,655 8,956,131 15,180,456 16,768,753 20,304,292

Project Success Rate 0.75

Total cumulative incremental net benefits ASPIRE after success rate0 0 493,675 1,600,480 3,336,491 6,717,098 11,385,342 12,576,565 15,228,219

Economic Costs USD 3,243,612 6,047,198 7,863,421 9,696,907 14,235,586 12,148,067 10,898,587

Total Incremental Net Benefits -3,243,612 -6,047,198 -7,369,746 -8,096,427 -10,899,095 -5,430,969 486,755 12,576,565 15,228,219

NPV @ 12% 6,324,802

IRR 15%

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Table 11: Scenario two with 13 provinces - Economic Analysis – Costs and Benefits Stream (USD)

Table 12: Scenario two with 13 provinces - Sensitivity Analysis and Switching Values (USD))

Project Economic Analysis 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 to 2029

Incremental net benefits per activity

FFS USD 0 0 0 0 0 1,205,444 3,214,517 4,902,139 8,679,196

PPPs USD 0 0 658,233 1,974,699 3,949,398 7,503,856 12,638,074 12,638,074 12,638,074

Contracting out model USD 0 0 0 0 180,709 361,418 722,836 1,373,389 2,313,077

Climate Resilient Infrastructure USD 0 0 0 159,274 318,548 477,822 581,350 422,076 501,713

Total cumulative incremental benefits ASPIREUSD 0 0 658,233 2,133,973 4,448,655 9,548,540 17,156,777 19,335,677 24,132,059

Project Success Rate 0.75

Total cumulative incremental net benefits ASPIRE after success rate0 0 493,675 1,600,480 3,336,491 7,161,405 12,867,583 14,501,758 18,099,044

Economic Costs USD 3,342,432 6,234,038 8,263,761 12,311,337 16,829,256 15,338,137 14,180,557

Total Incremental Net Benefits -3,342,432 -6,234,038 -7,770,086 -10,710,857 -13,492,765 -8,176,731 -1,312,974 14,501,758 18,099,044

NPV @ 12% 6,533,368

IRR 15%

+10% +20% +30% +10% +20% -10% -20% - 30% 1 year 2 years

IRR 14.9% 13% 11% 9% 17% 19% 13% 10% 8% 11% 8%

NPV (USD) 6,533,368 1,993,885 -2,545,597 -7,085,079 11,726,187 16,919,006 1,340,549 -3,852,270 -9,045,090 -1,982,713 -9,586,357

Discount rate 12%

NPV incremental benefits 35,600,188 29,066,820 -18%

NPV incremental investment cost 49,192,657 55,726,025 13%

Switching values

Sensitivity Analysis

( 15-year period)Base case

Costs Increase Increase of Benefits Decrease of Benefits Delay of Benefits

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Appendix 11: Draft programme implementation manual: Annotated table of contents

113

Appendix 11: Draft Programme Implementation Manual: Annotated Table of Contents

Section and Sub-Section Notes

INTRODUCTION, PURPOSE, STRATEGY AND CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES

1 INTRODUCTION

Introduction to ASPIRE

Introduction to the PIM

Intended users of the PIM

2 PURPOSE OF ASPIRE

Reason for ASPIRE Brief summary of the diagnosis that lead to the design

of ASPIRE

Expected results Description of the expected results of ASPIRE with

reference to the Results Framework (which will be a

an annex)

3 ASPIRE IMPLMENTATION STRAGTEGY Describes key assignment of roles, the phased

approach to implementation and the main features of

each phase

Programme Budget Defines how ASPIRE is integrated with Programme

Budget, phase by phase (more details to be provided

in the component descriptions)

4 ASPIRE PRINCIPLES

Inclusiveness Defines core principles of ASPIRE for inclusive

dialogue and participation at all levels

Gender Mainstreaming Defines core principles for mainstreaming gender in

ASPIRE

Mainstreaming Climate Resilience Defines how CCA / climate resilience is mainstreamed

in all parts of ASPIRE and how this is systematically

verified.

5 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The ASPIRE Steering Committee

MEF

MAFF and its agencies

NCDDS

Sub-National Administrations

The ASPIRE Secretariat

COMPONENTS, OUTPUTS AND ACTIVITIES

6.1 COMPONENT 1: EVIDENCE BASED POLICY

Results and Performance Measurement Defines the time-bound results of Component 1 and

how performance will be measured

Sub-Component 1.1: Policy Development and

Coordination

Describes the activities and outputs of Comp 1.1

Sub-Component 1.2: Policy Research and

Analysis


Planning and AWPB Preparation Describes how Comp 1 is integrated with PB and how

the AWPB for Comp 1 is prepared.

6.2 COMPONENT 2: CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT

Results and Performance Measurement Defines the time-bound results of Component 1 and

how performance will be measured

Sub-Component 2.1: Improving Extension

Quality


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Section and Sub-Section Notes

Sub-Component 2.2: Strengthening Human

Resources


Planning and AWPB Preparation Describes how Comp 2 is integrated with PB and how

the AWPB for Comp 2 is prepared.

6.3 COMPONENT 3: SERVICE DELIVERY

Provincial Sub-Programmes Defines the concept of a Provincial Sub-Programme,

its scope, accountability for results and relationship to

PB

Results and Performance Measurement Defines the key results of the Provincial Sub-

Programmes and how performance is measured

Allocation and Eligible Expenditures of

Extension Services Grants

Defines how the allocations are determined, the rules

for what the grants can be spent on, phase by phase,

and also applicable rules for determining acceptable

costs / levels of expenditure per activity type.

Provincial Agriculture Strategic Plan Defines the PASP and the process for preparation of

the PASP

District Work Plans

Readiness

Smallholder Learning Groups

o Formation

o Work Planning

o Implementation

Farmer to Farmer Learning

Defines the District Work Plan and describes the

public extension model including FFS delivered by the

DAO and the farmer-to-farmer learning model

supported by the CEW

Explains how the CEW role is different from in

previous IFAD projects

Public-Private Partnerships Defines the essential features of the PPP model and

the arrangements for piloting PPP in Phase 1

Contracted Out Extension Services

Defines the essential features of the contracting out

model and the arrangements for piloting PPP in Phase

1

Planning and AWPB preparation Describes how the Provincial Sub-Programme is

consolidated with the AWPB

Sub-Component 3.2: Innovation Grants

Results and Performance Measurement Defines the expected results and the performance

measurement approach for the Innovation Grants

Eligibility Defines the eligible expenditures of the innovation

grants

Selection Process Describes the process for selection of innovations and

award of innovation grants

Planning and AWPB preparation Describes how the innovation grants are consolidated

in the AWPB

Sub-Component 3.3: Mass Media Extension Defines the expected results and the performance

measurement approach for the Mass Media campaign


measurement approach for the Mass Media campaign

Outputs and Activities Describes the outputs and activities for comp 3.3

Planning and AWPB preparation Describes how the mass media activities are

consolidated in the AWPB

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6.4 COMPONENT 4: CLIMATE RESILIENT

INFRASTRUCTURE


measurement approach for the PBCR and SPCR

Grants

Eligible Expenditures of Climate Resilience

Grants

Describes how the grants are allocated. Defines the

eligible expenditures of the grants including co-

financing rules

Minimum Conditions and Performance

Measures

Defines the minimum access conditions and the

performance measures for the grants, including the

performance measurement process

Planning Activities Describes the planning process including preparation

of the District Climate Resilience Strategy

Implementation Describes implementation arrangements

Planning and AWPB preparation Describes how the climate resilient infrastructure

activities are consolidated in the AWPB

PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT

Key management responsibilities

Preparation and consolidation of the AWPB

Key approval and reporting instruments

7 MONITORING, EVALUATION AND REPORTING

Overview

MIS

Major Impact Survey

Farmer Tracking

Extension Practitioner Survey

Randomised Controlled Trials

Other Surveys

Reporting

9 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, PROCUREMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

Financial Management

Procurement

Administration

8 PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION WORK PLAN

Work Plan Presents a consolidated, Gantt-Chart format

implementation plan including highlighting of critical

path and cross-linkages between components

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Appendix 12: Compliance with IFAD policies

117


A. Targeting

The design of ASPIRE complies with the IFAD policy on targeting. The core target group of 1.

ASPIRE are poor and vulnerable smallholder farmers who have potential to take advantage of

improved access to opportunities for agricultural production.

The design of ASPIRE reflects the findings of the important Baseline Poverty Analysis prepared 2.

for IFAD as part of the preparation of the RB-COSOP 2013-18. This analysis in particular reflects the

rapidly changing nature of rural poverty in Cambodia, the constraints faced by the rural poor and

especially women in escaping from poverty and the continued importance of agriculture in the

livelihoods of the poor. The Baseline Analysis also found that although poverty headcount has fallen

rapidly in Cambodia in recent years, a large number of rural families remain only a little above the

poverty line and at risk of falling back into poverty due to climate related, market related or domestic

shocks. This is also supported by the newly released World Bank Poverty Assessment which finds

that the impact of losing an income of about $0.30 would throw an estimated 3 million Cambodians

back into poverty.69

ASPIRE will target the poor primarily through self-selection based on providing access to 3.

learning opportunities that are designed to meet the needs of the productive poor. This approach will

complement geographical targeting taking poverty (and potential for poverty reduction through

improved agricultural incomes) into account. The climate resilient infrastructure component will

specifically target Districts identified as vulnerable to climate change and will use participatory

Vulnerability Reduction Analysis to identify the needs of the most vulnerable groups.

The outcome of the self-selection approach to targeting will be carefully monitored, including 4.

recording the proportion of direct beneficiaries who are classified as poor using the Government’s ID-

Poor system. In line with the relevant policy, targeting effectiveness will be assessed by al evaluation

exercises including the mid-term review.

Further verification of compliance with IFAD targeting policy is provided in Checklist 1 annexed 5.

to this Appendix.

B. Gender Mainstreaming

The programme also complies with IFAD’s policy on “Mainstreaming Gender”. A high proportion 6.

of Cambodian smallholder farmers are either in women headed households or in households where

the men frequently migrate to seek work, leaving the women primarily responsible for agriculture

production.

The ASPIRE design is based on the Baseline Poverty Analysis (see above) which includes 7.

gender dimensions, accounting for differences in the roles of women and men in rural areas and how

they can benefit from programme activities;

Specifically, ASPIRE will: 8.

(a) Ensure that women have equal opportunities to participate in all programme activities

including in leadership positions (e.g. in farmer groups) and equal opportunities for

programme employment;

(b) Ensure that extension materials and activities are specifically designed to meet the

needs of women farmers;

69

Where have all the poor gone? Cambodia Poverty Assessment 2013: World Bank 2014. Reported in

Cambodia Daily 21/02/2014

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(c) Carefully monitor gender outcomes including the proportion of women who participate in

the activities and any differential benefits gained or lost by women-headed households;

(d) Ensure that a gender aware approach including recognition of the economic importance

of women farmers for smallholder production, and the need to address the specific needs

of these farmers, is included in policy development.

Detailed verification of compliance with IFAD gender policies is provided in Checklist 2 annexed 9.

to this Appendix.

C. Environment and Natural Resource Management

The programme’s environmental classification is Category “B”. This Category is recommended 10.

basing it on the potential environmental implications and public health concerns associated with

agricultural intensification and infrastructure development, if not adequately addressed. The design is

fully aligned with both the ENRM Policy and CC Strategy.

An Environment and Climate Change Assessment (ECCA) Report that was produced as part of 11.

preparation for the RB-COSOP 2013-18 and has been referred to in preparation of this Annex.

The overall impact of the programme on the environment and sustainable management of 12.

natural resources is expected to be positive. In particular, the programme will mainstream awareness

of and adaptation to climate change into agriculture extension and will support mainstreaming of

climate change adaptation into local development planning together with investments for climate

resilience.

The Evidence Based Policy component will ensure that environmental sustainability and 13.

promotion of climate resilience and adaptive capacity are integrated into policy for extension services.

The capacity development component will enhance the capacity of MAFF and extension 14.

service providers to assess the needs of farmers, including in relation to environmental and climate

change issues, and to develop and disseminate appropriate extension messages.

The combined effect of the programme’s service delivery components should mitigate the 15.

effects of pressure on land, poor agricultural practises, and degradation of land, and fisheries. These

impacts can be summarised as follows:

(a) Improving the delivery of extension services and the introduction of environmentally

friendly and climate smart practises;

(b) Appropriate use of agriculture chemicals, particularly fertiliser and pesticides, will be

integrated into trainings. Cambodian farmers are under increasing pressure to use

agricultural chemicals but lack the information and skills to use them responsibly. Non-

chemical solutions including composting and integrated pest management will be

introduced to all trainings where appropriate.

(c) Livestock in all programme districts are raised on an extensive, scavenging system. The

programme will promote housing of all livestock at night as part of the livestock

improvement trainings. Manure collected from bovine and pig housing will be composted

with crop residues and other vegetative material to form compost, which will be placed on

the agricultural land.

The anticipated increase in the use of certified or quality seed will have a positive effect on the 16.

environment as it should lead to a reduction, albeit modest, in the amount of weed seed sown by

farmers. It is also anticipated that the adoption of IPM technology to control insect pests in rice will

lead to a reduction in the use of potentially harmful pesticides.

The intensification of agriculture, especially the increased use of mineral fertilizer and agro-17.

chemicals that is expected under the programme, could have modest environmental implications. As

far as the increased use of fertilizer is concerned the environmental implications are not expected to

be significant as very few farmers will be able to afford to apply large quantities of fertilizer. The risks

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of eutrophication arising from leaching of fertilizer into the ground water and river systems is

considered to be very low partly because of the limited amount of fertilizer to be applied, but also

because of the tremendous dilution of any leachate by the heavy rainfall and flooding during the rainy

season. Furthermore maintenance of on-farm soil fertility will be addressed by incorporating training

about soil fertility and the importance of adding organic matter to the soil into all cropping

programmes, and wherever possible by introducing legumes into the cropping pattern.

The increased use of pesticides and some herbicides could have harmful effects. Most 18.

agricultural sprays sold in Cambodia are manufactured in either Thailand or Vietnam, and few have

Khmer labels. A study undertaken in 2000 found that only eight out of 77 input suppliers could read

the foreign labels. A CEDAC study in 2001 found that the majority of farmers mixed two or more

pesticides together. Since many of these are highly toxic, it is very important that input suppliers have

the correct product knowledge and can advise farmer clients accordingly. It is envisaged that farmer

training will include safe use of agro-chemicals and that during the programme the circular on an

inspection system for fertilizer and pesticides approved by the council of Ministers (July 2007) will

become law. This should provide a legal framework to the supply and sale of fertilizers and pesticides

requiring amongst other things product labelling in Khmer and dealer training.

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CHECKLIST 1: TARGETING

Design

1. Does the main target group - those expected to

benefit most- correspond to IFAD’s target group as

defined by the Targeting Policy (poorer households

and food insecure)?

ASPIRE’s main target group is defined as smallholders and

poor farmers, and corresponds to the IFAD’s target group.

2. Have target sub-groups been identified and

described according to their different socio-economic

characteristics, assets and livelihoods - with attention

to gender and youth differences? (matrix on target

group characteristics completed?)

ASPIRE target group characterisation follows the COSOP (Key

File 4) typologies of ‘poor rural households with potential to

engage in commercial agriculture’, ‘indigenous ethnic minority

households’ and ‘poor women and women-headed

households’.

3. Is evidence provided of interest in and likely uptake

of the proposed activities by the identified target sub-

groups? What is the evidence? (matrix on analysis of

programme components and activities by principal

beneficiary groups completed?)

Recent and ongoing IFAD projects (RPRP, RULIP and

PADEE) targeting the households with similar characteristics

have shown their active participation in activities related to

technology transfer.

4. Does the design document describe a feasible and

operational targeting strategy in line with the

Targeting Policy, involving some or all of the following

measures and methods:

See Section on Programme area and target group in the main

text and Appendix 2 for details.

4.1 Geographic targeting – based on poverty data or

proxy indicators to identify, for area-based projects or

programmes, geographic areas (and within these,

communities) with high concentrations of poor people

ASPIRE’s Provincial Sub-Programmes and Climate Resilient

Infrastructure activities will be piloted in five provinces initially,

with an expansion to a further five later. While the selection of

pilot provinces will be finalised at Appraisal, the currently

proposed provinces match those of RULIP and PADEE

selected on the basis of poverty combined with agricultural

potentials.

4.2 Direct targeting - when services or resources are

to be channelled to specific individuals or households

Under the contracting-out model of extension service delivery,

members of ‘special needs groups’, such as new land

recipients of Social Land Concessions, may be identified and

directly targeted.

4.3 Self targeting – when goods and services respond

to the priority needs, resource endowments and

livelihood strategies of target groups

Extension messages to be delivered to the targeted farmers

will be formulated on the basis of their identified needs and

interests. The public delivery model (‘District Work Plans’)

primarily aims at improving basic farming skills and knowledge

of the poor farmers, and it will mainly attract those farmers with

the contents specifically designed to respond to their

constraints and opportunities.

4.4 Empowering measures - including information and

communication, focused capacity- and confidence-

building measures, organisational support, in order to

empower and encourage the more active participation

and inclusion in planning and decision making of

people who traditionally have less voice and power

ASPIRE will support extension delivery to targeted

smallholders and poor farmers who otherwise have little or no

access to information on agriculture technologies, therefore

are not empowered to improve their livelihoods. One of the

main extension delivery methods will be group-based learning

to facilitate knowledge sharing among the participants

(Smallholder Learning Groups). The programme will also

support ‘Farmer to Farmer Learning Network’ which aims to

promote knowledge sharing and communications between

farmers and other actors at the local level (extensionists,

traders, farmer organizations, etc.) on a sustainable basis.

ASPIRE will finance a mass media campaign with a view to

bringing extension messages to a broader rural audience.

4.5 Enabling measures –to strengthen stakeholders’

and partners’ attitude and commitment to poverty

targeting, gender equality and women’s

empowerment, including policy dialogue, awareness-

raising and capacity-building

ASPIRE will support policy formulation processes and capacity

development on extension which aim to make a new national

extension programme responsive to farmers’ needs and

demands, including those of the poor and the vulnerable.

Various measures are featured in the design to this effect,

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including systematic approach to information analysis

(Extension Hub), formulation of actionable plans addressing

their needs at national and provincial levels, and inclusion of

farmer representatives in the key decision making processes.

It is hoped that the enhanced national agricultural extension

policy using programme budget would facilitate other

development partners’ investment in extension services.

4.6 Attention to procedural measures - that could

militate against participation by the intended target

groups

Not applicable.

4.7 Operational measures - appropriate

project/programme management arrangements,

staffing, selection of implementation partners and

service providers

Service providers will be selected for the delivery of extension

services under public-private partnership and contracting out

models. The selection criteria would include experience in

working with smallholders, including poor households.

5. Monitoring targeting performance. Does the design

document specify that targeting performance will be

monitored using participatory M&E, and also be

assessed at mid-term review? Does the M&E

framework allow for the collection/analysis of sex-

disaggregated data and are there gender-sensitive

indicators against which to monitor/evaluate outputs,

outcomes and impacts?

Programme M&E incorporates a self-assessment by farmers

(Farmer Tracking) on the results of the extension programme.

This will include recording whether farmers are registered as

poor using the official “ID-Poor” system, and robust proxy

indicators such as land holdings. Key indicators in the logframe

are gender-disaggregated.

NB. This checklist should be completed and included in Annex XII of PDR and ideally should be accompanied by key file on target group characteristics.

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CHECKLIST 2: KEY FEATURES OF GENDER-SENSITIVE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

Design

1. The programme design report contains – and

programme implementation is based on - gender-

disaggregated poverty data and an analysis of gender

differences in the activities or sectors concerned, as

well as an analysis of each programme activity from

the gender perspective to address any unintentional

barriers to women’s participation.

Country and rural development contest section and

Annex 2 provide analysis on gender dimensions of

poverty and challenges of rural women. The

programme design reflects the recognition that women

are key players in agriculture, especially for food

production, and mainstreams women in all activities.

2. The programme design report articulates – or the

programme implements – actions with aim to:

Expand women’s economic empowerment through access to and control over productive and household assets;

ASPIRE will economically and socially empower poor

female farmers, including heads of households,

through improvement of their farming knowledge and

livelihood practices. This will enable them to optimize

returns to their labour and make best use of their

productive assets.

Strengthen women’s decision-making role in the household and community, and their representation in membership and leadership of local institutions;

As demonstrated by past and ongoing IFAD projects

with similar approach to extension delivery method

(Farmers’ Field School), women’s participation in

extension meetings enhance public recognition of

women as key players in farming. Women gain and

improve knowledge on farming by participating in such

meetings, which will also strengthen their livelihood-

related decision makings at household level.

Achieve a reduced workload and an equitable workload balance between women and men.

Not applicable.

3. The programme design report includes one

paragraph in the targeting section that explains what

the programme will deliver from a gender perspective.

The programme will mainstream gender in the overall

agricultural extension system (needs analysis,

communications and service delivery) by making

inclusion of and outreach to women being an integral

part of the extension policy formulation.

4. The programme design report describes the key

elements for operationalizing the gender strategy, with

respect to the relevant programme components.

Extension and Research Advisory Board will be

sensitized on gender concerns, and promote gender

mainstreaming in extension hub activities. Monitoring

and demand assessment and extension content

development will take into consideration needs for

gender differentiation and inclusion of women in

extension services will be considered as one element

of the standard to be evaluated in the extension quality

assurance mechanism. This will make the content of

extension messages directly responsive to what poor

women will be interested and can control (vegetable

production, chicken rearing, etc.).

5. The design document describes - and the

programme implements - operational measures to

ensure gender- equitable participation in, and benefit

from, programme activities. These will generally

include:

5.1 Allocating adequate human and financial resources to implement the gender strategy

No specific gender earmarking in determining human

and financial resources is considered necessary.

Based on experience of previous and ongoing IFAD

programme female participation in trainings is

expected to be high. An indicative target of 50% is set

for female participants in all farmer trainings, and 25%

for professional training under Human Resources

Development Strategy (see below)

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5.2 Ensuring and supporting women’s active

participation in programme-related activities,

decision-making bodies and committees, including

setting specific targets for participation

The programme Steering Committee membership will

include gender-informed members. Under capacity

building and training activities (Component 2), women

are encouraged to participate in all ASPIRE supported

trainings (MAFF staff, RUA and other agricultural

schools, and other agencies). An indicative percentage

(50%) is set for female participants in the farmer

trainings. Under a Human Resources Development

Strategy for extension (Sub-Component 2.2), female

professionals and technical experts will have an

opportunity to participate in all ASPIRE supported

training activities (a minimum of 25% of the participants

will be women).

5.3 Ensuring that programme/programme management

arrangements (composition of the programme

management unit/programme coordination unit,

programme terms of reference for staff and

implementing partners, etc.) reflect attention to

gender equality and women’s empowerment

concerns

Members of the programme management unit,

Steering Committee and Extension Advisory Board will

be sensitized on gender at the onset of the

programme. This will build on existing awareness

among key policy makers and practitioners at national

and provincial levels of IFAD’s strong focus on gender

mainstreaming from their exposures to past and

ongoing projects, as well as participation in the recent

COSOP process.

5.4 Ensuring direct programme/programme outreach to

women (for example through appropriate numbers

and qualification of field staff), especially where

women’s mobility is limited

Women will be equitably represented among

Commune Extension Workers (CEWs). Under the past

and ongoing IFAD projects, 50 % of CEWs are women.

5.5 Identifying opportunities to support strategic

partnerships with government and others

development organizations for networking and

policy dialogue

ASPIRE’s support to establishment of a gender-

mainstreamed national extension programme could

attract some development partners with interest in

gender equity to invest in extension delivery.

6. The programme’s logical framework, M&E, MIS and

learning systems specify in design – and programme

M&E unit collects, analyses and interprets sex- and

age-disaggregated performance and impact data,

including specific indicators on gender equality and

women’s empowerment.

Key indicators in the logical framework are gender

disaggregated.

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Appendix 13: Contents of the Programme Life File

1. Working Paper 1 – Knowledge Based Policy

2. Working Paper 2 – Alignment with Programme Budgeting

3. Working Paper 3 – Capacity Needs Assessment

4. Working Paper 4 – Climate Smart Agriculture (forthcoming)

5. Working Paper 5 – Public-Private Partnerships

6. Working Paper 6 – Feasibility of Commune Agriculture Centres

7. Working Paper 7 – Climate Resilient Infrastructure Fund

8. Working Paper 8 – Farmers on New Land

9. Working Paper 9 – Communications Strategy

10. Working Paper 10 – Mass Media Campaign

11. Working Paper 11 – Randomised Controlled Trials

12. RB-COSOP Background Paper 1: Baseline Poverty Assessment

13. RB-COSOP Background Paper 2: Environmental and Climate Change Assessment

14. RB-COSOP Background Paper 3: Linking Farmers to Markets

15. RB-COSOP Background Paper 4: Programme Based Approach

16. Programme Implementation Manual (forthcoming)